Pension reforms slow recruitment

Health services on the Isle of Man are struggling to attract and retain doctors as uncertainty with proposed public sector pension reforms continues. Ministers from the Isle’s parliament, the Tynwald, have continued to defer debating a series of recommendations designed to increase sustainability in the island’s public sector pensions fund, which faces a deficit in terms of past-service benefits. The BMA is among a number of trade unions warning that failure to safeguard pension funds or deviation from terms offered to staff on the mainland, risks increasing the numbers of doctors leaving the island. There is no medical school on the Isle of Man, which relies on attracting doctors from the UK to work in its hospital and GP practices. Isle of Man Medical Society president Alex Allinson, who is a GP, said the majority of doctors accepted the proposed changes, but indecision by political leaders was creating uncertainty among the profession. He said: ‘Most doctors accept they will have to pay more [towards their pension] … We thought we had agreed a scheme that, in the long term, would be sustainable and agreeable to all parties. The problem we have is the degree of uncertainty.’   Delays Dr Allinson added that the delay in making a decision on pensions was affecting existing and retired scheme members, as well as making it harder to recruit doctors from the UK mainland. He said: ‘At least three GPs have retired early at the age of 55, ...
Source: BMA News - Category: UK Health Source Type: news