Pensions
The Government published the Public Service Pensions Bill on 13 September. It claims that changes to public sector pensions are needed for sustainability. However, the BMA strongly believes that the scope of these changes is unfair, unnecessary and will adversely impact staff in the NHS Pension Scheme:

• Demanding the same savings of all public sector schemes across the board is unfair – the NHS Pensions Scheme underwent major reform only 4 years ago, and continues to deliver a positive cashflow to the Treasury.

• Some healthcare workers will pay 66% of the cost of their pension benefits by 2014-2015 but the highest earning civil servants will pay a maximum 26% of theirs.

• The Government wants to link the Normal Pension Age for NHS staff to the State Pension Age, but work in the NHS is often physically, mentally and emotionally demanding, and some staff will not feel able to work effectively beyond the age of 65.

The BMA will be proposing affordable ways in which the changes can be made fairer, both now and in the longer term. The BMA’s activity on these plans involves a number of strands. First, the BMA is playing an active part in the Working Longer Review, involving the Department of Health, NHS Employers and health unions examining the impact of NHS staff working longer. Additionally, together with other health unions, the BMA is building a campaign against the planned increase to the NHS retirement age. Also, the BMA are using the publication of the Bill to lobby Parliamentarians, to make them aware of doctors’ concerns about the changes to NHS pensions and to offer alternative solutions. The BMA is among the unions currently in talks with the government about the detail of the changes to the NHS pensions scheme.

Revalidation
The UK Revalidation Programme Board considered preparedness for the roll out of revalidation. The BMA believes that while there is significantly more work to be done to get revalidation into proper shape, its seven principles for implementation have been broadly recognised and sufficiently addressed to enable the General Medical Council to proceed with its timetable. This is partly due to a commitment given that the NHS Commissioning Board (NHSCB) will establish funding to support GPs who need remediation away from their place of work, and confirmation that the responsibility for funding remedial placements and assessments for GPs will rest with commissioners. Fair and reasonable access to funding will be determined through a set of criteria determined by the NHSCB working with the BMA. The GPC will continue to work to ensure that the ongoing issues that require further work are addressed, and that revalidation is reviewed regularly to assess whether it is proportionate and appropriate, and benefits patients.

Flu Vaccinations for Healthcare Workers
Due to the continued low uptake of the flu vaccine in healthcare workers (45% for 2011/12), the Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Dame Sally Davies, and the BMA’s Chair of Council, Dr Mark Porter, have written this letter to doctors to ensure that as many frontline staff as possible get vaccinated.

Pharmaceutical Service Regulations Amends
The Department of Health has made the following amendments to the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2012, which will come into force on 1 November:

• restore rights of appeals included in the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2005 but not included in the 2012 regulations;

• make it clear that members of limited liability partnerships are to be treated, for information providing purposes, in the same way as directors of corporate bodies;

• correct the list of conditions that have to be met if a dispensing doctor is to dispense a repeatable prescription in Schedule 6 to the 2012 Regulations (terms of service for dispensing doctors).