The Family Doctor Association has thrown its weight behind Pulse's Say No to 30% campaign to protect GPs' pensions, as pressure mounts on the Government to return to the negotiating table with the BMA.
The latest stage in our campaign highlights the proportion some GPs will pay in employee and employer contributions, which the FDA called an ‘unjustifiable extra tax' on GPs.
It pledged its support as the BMA announced new dates for its national roadshows on proposals to take industrial action for the first time since the 1970s.
Dr Peter Swinyard, chair of the Family Doctor Association and a GP in Swindon, said the Pulse campaign highlighted the mistake the Government was making in trying to force through the change to pension contributions.
He added: ‘The Family Doctor Association supports Pulse's Say No to 30% campaign. GPs have never had a final-salary scheme and agreed less than four years ago to accept a "once in a lifetime" substantial rise in their pension contributions to protect lower-paid NHS workers.
‘The imposition of a non-negotiable severe rise in GP pension contributions will drive many GPs to retire much earlier than they would have done, costing the NHS Pension Scheme much money and losing a highly experienced part of the workforce.
‘We are fully behind the BMA in its efforts to reverse this unjustifiable extra tax on GP incomes.'
