The BMA has taken the first steps towards a judicial review into the Government’s decision to hand the cost of NHS pensions age discrimination onto scheme members, Pulse reports.
The union sent a ‘pre-action letter’ to the Treasury and Department of Health and Social Care on Monday 15 November which constitutes a ‘formal step before requesting a High Court Judicial Review of the issue’.
In a public statement, BMA pensions’ committee chair Dr Vishal Sharma said: “It is unacceptable that pension scheme members are being burdened with the cost of the Government acting unlawfully.”
Specialist medical IFA Kirsty McGaun has written for NASGP before about ways that new NHS pensions changes could affect members, and specialist medical accountant Liz Densley has also provided a detailed explanation of how consultations into age discrimination might affect GPs.
Dr Richard Fieldhouse, chair of NASGP, said: “As GPs, we’re usually way too busy on the day job to pick up on subtle changes to legislation that have the potential to have a significant impact on our professional livelihoods, so it’s comforting to know that the BMA are keeping an eye on these issues for us, and fully deserve all our support.
“Meanwhile we’ll keep our members up to date on these high level decisions that affect us on a daily basis.”
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