Happy new year from the retired members committee

Retired members committee chair Peter Curry gives an update on things to look out for over the next few months
Location: UK
Published: Wednesday 24 January 2024
Peter Curry

Happy New Year. As I sit and write this in very cold conditions it appears that winter has arrived in spite of clear indications of global warming.

There are a few things for our retired members to look out for:

Pensions

Any of you that retired between 2015 and 2022 (the McCloud remedy period) should have an opportunity to decide whether you wish to change the scheme basis on which your pension is paid. Please do read and act as appropriate on information you receive about this. It may be some time before you get all the information you need to make a decision.

We also have online advice for members about making injury to feelings claims in relation to pension age discrimination.

Retired members conference, 14 March 2024

The retired members conference will be at BMA House and online on 14 March. You can register online – the deadline for registrations is 5pm on 2 February. The conference develops policy for the year ahead through debates of motions, and there will also be interesting speakers on the theme of ‘retirement – another step in your career’.

Any of you who may wish to submit a motion for us to consider to put forward for the ARM, please feel free to contact us with your thoughts even if you are not going to make it to conference.

Retired members dinner at the ARM, 24 June 2024

We have agreed to hold a retired members dinner on the Monday night at the ARM (annual representative meeting) in Belfast. Details will be on the website in early spring and we will email invitations to all retired members elected to ARM seats.

NHS emeritus consultants pilot

We had been talking to NHS England about arrangements for retired members returning to work (they refer to it as emeritus consultants). While we had thought progress was being made, they have gone ahead and launched without dealing with the issues we raised, and we are not therefore in a position to recommend the arrangements.

BMA local structure changes

Discussion around the structural reorganisation of the BMA continues and as yet the committee has not been satisfied that proposals provide effective and appropriate solutions for retired members. We are not small in number, with approximately 11,500 of us as BMA members at present. We discussed this again at the retired members committee meeting on 23 January and put forward retired members’ views at UK council on 24 January.

Pan-BMA elected retired member meeting

There are a lot of retired members in a variety of elected posts across the BMA. We are hoping to bring them together to explore what common themes and shared learning might be possible. More details about this in my next update.

As always, we are here for you, so please do get in touch if there is anything you want to raise with us – it is always good to hear from you. You can email me or our staff contact, Laura Clark.

 

Peter Curry is chair of the BMA retired members committee

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