“It is right that these rules are suspended, if only for a temporary period. Once the crisis is over however, there may be a case for a more fundamental review, as it is clear that in the UK we have lost a lot of medical expertise from the NHS due to early retirement, in part driven by tax rules, and the current crisis is a reminder of how valuable those skills could still be.”
Last month (March 25), the government already made changes to the NHS pension scheme rules, which were also designed to protect the pension income of returning NHS workers.
Under normal circumstances, retired doctors or nurses returning to work could see their NHS pension reduced under a process known as “abatement”.
But as part of the coronavirus bill, the government proposed to temporarily suspend the abatement rules.
amy.austin@ft.com
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