RCN reiterates calls for fair pay for nurses as numbers leaving NHS pension scheme double

Nursing staff hit by the cost-of-living crisis and a decade of real-terms pay cuts are increasingly opting out of NHS pension scheme, new data reveals. 

The number of NHS staff removing themselves from NHS pensions doubled between 2021 and 2022, with around 550 members of staff opting out every day between April and July this year.  

Many staff members said they decided to opt out because of affordability and being faced with other financial priorities. While 47 per cent said this was a temporary decision, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) fears the continuing cost-of-living crisis will see many more people forced to leave the scheme. 

Nurse Jodie Elliott, from London, opted out of her NHS pension because she could no longer afford it. She said it had been an agonising decision that had “horrified” her family.

“My family had always drilled into me the importance of securing my financial future, but every single month I was getting to the bottom of both my overdrafts despite being extremely careful,” she said.

“I work full time and despite constantly picking up extra work, I just couldn’t make ends meet. I had no choice but to leave the scheme.” 

A newly qualified nurse in England and Wales on a salary of around £27,000 would pay about £183 on their basic salary into their pension each month – money that many nurses desperately need to put towards rising food, heating and petrol costs.

RCN General Secretary & Chief Executive Pat Cullen said: “It is a sad day when the people who care for this country from cradle to grave don’t earn enough to provide for their own future.

“A lifetime of service should never mean a lifetime of poverty.

“With living costs soaring, this situation is only going to get worse. Some nurses are having to use food banks just to get by.

“Many are leaving the profession and ultimately, it’s patients who are suffering. A simple way to recruit and retain more staff is to pay them fairly. But ministers haven’t listened and we’re now having to consider strike action. Enough is enough.”