Junior doctors in line for £270m pension boost under new pay demands
Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, is due to meet doctors on Thursday in a last-ditch attempt to avoid planned industrial action next week.
The Government has already confirmed they will receive a 5.4pc salary boost, but medics voted in favour of a five-day walk-out after their request for 29pc was rejected.
Awarding the full amount could net the average worker almost £15,000 more in pay, and an extra £3,500 in pension contributions, analysis has found.
There are 77,000 junior doctors, recently renamed as resident doctors, working in NHS hospitals and community services, potentially adding another £269.5m to the pensions bill.
Taxpayers already hand £11bn a year to NHS retirees, and pay another £16bn in pension contributions for current staff.
As part of the NHS Pension Scheme, resident doctors pay between 9.8pc and 12.8pc of their salary in themselves. In return, they receive employer contributions of 23.7pc and retire with a guaranteed, inflation-linked pension for life.
They currently earn an average of £51,450 during their core training years, which would rise to £66,400 if their demands were met in full. Their pay has already risen 28.9pc over the last three years.
The British Medical Association (BMA) balloted its members on strike action after the Government rejected its demands for 29pc. Industrial action will begin on July 25 and could cause more than 200,000 hospital appointments to be cancelled.
John O'Connell, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Taxpayers are already shelling out billions for gold-plated public sector pensions, and now resident doctors want even more.
'If they get their way, it will be ordinary British workers – many of whom will never see such generous retirement deals – left footing the bill.
'This strike is a disgrace and should be stopped before it causes real harm to patients.'
However, the Resident Doctors Committee said: 'Resident doctor pay is down more than a fifth since 2008-09, when pay began falling in real terms. We're only asking for that to be restored. No doctor is worth less or working less than they were 17 years ago.
'We estimate the net cost to the Treasury of full pay restoration for resident doctors to be less than 0.5pc of the NHS budget, which is a tiny price to pay to guarantee the future of the medical profession and health service.'
Resident doctors have walked out 11 times since 2023, but strikes came to a halt after Labour agreed to a 22pc pay rise.
Mr Streeting said the BMA was now leaving the NHS's recovery 'hanging by a thread', and called the strikes 'completely unreasonable'.
However, in an LBC interview last week, he opened the door to cutting pension contributions in favour of pay rises.
Neil Record, a pensions expert and former Bank of England economist, said: 'Wes Streeting has already floated the idea that NHS workers might be able to opt for higher cash salaries in return for lower pension accrual for future service.
'Coincidentally, a doctor choosing to give up all future pension contributions from their employer, but preserving the pension they've already built up, could be given a take-home pay increase of almost exactly the same as the current 29pc pay claim without any additional cost to the NHS and hence the taxpayer.
'Perhaps this could be offered to doctors as an option, and see what the take-up is?'
When approached by The Telegraph however, the BMA ruled the move out.
A Department for Health spokesman said talks on strike action were ongoing: 'The secretary of state has been clear that these strikes are unnecessary and unreasonable, following a 28.9pc pay rise and the majority of doctors not voting for these strikes.
'The BMA has accepted the Health Secretary's offer to meet.'
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