GP practices in Scotland will receive Government funding to cover increased costs related to staff pension contributions, following campaigning by the BMA.
The rate of employer pension contributions that practices must pay for all staff and partners in Scotland’s NHS pension scheme increased from 20.9% to 22.5% in April.
The BMA’s Scottish GP committee has been calling for the Scottish Government to ensure these extra costs are ‘fully reimbursed’ to practices, and this week confirmed the issue had been resolved.
Funding to cover the costs will be backdated to 1 April 2024.
Scotland GP Committee chair Dr Andrew Buist said he was ‘pleased’ with the result, which came ‘after sustained pressure’ from the BMA, and that the committee will ‘continue to press for further action’ on issues ‘of vital importance to GPs’.
In an update to members, he said: ‘We have been pushing the Scottish Government for some time over the issue of rising employer superannuation contributions and I’m pleased to be able to say this has now been resolved.
‘We have now finally received confirmation that general practice will receive funding to cover the additional cost of the superannuation contribution rate increase and it will also be backdated to 1 April 2024.
‘This is of course welcome news, which comes after sustained pressure from BMA Scotland over the issue.
‘But it also must be noted that this is only within our expectations of what the Scottish Government should be doing as it would have been entirely wrong to leave practices to cover these costs.
‘We will of course continue to press for further action on issues which we know are of vital importance to GPs.’
He said that the committee ‘will continue calls’ for ‘direct’ investment into practices so that they can continue to focus on meeting the needs of their patients and ‘recruiting the staff they need’.
He added: ‘Those of us on the ground know the reality of the current medical workforce crisis and challenges which come from not having enough GPs to meet the needs of the people of Scotland.
‘The Scottish Government promised 800 new GPs by 2027 but they are not on target to deliver. We will continue to campaign for an increase in numbers, particularly as we know that with doctors leaving the workforce due to early retirement, burnout or to work elsewhere we now need at least 1000 new GPs for Scotland.’
What do staff pay into the NHS pension scheme (Scotland)?
| Pensionable earning band in 2023/2024 | Employee contribution percentage rate from 1 April 2024 |
| Up to £13,330 | 5.7% |
| £13,331 to £25,367 | 6.1% |
| £25,368 to £30,018 | 6.7% |
| £30,019 to £37,663 | 8.2% |
| £37,664 to £37,830 | 9.8% |
| £37,831 to £39,497 | 10% |
| £39,498 to £48,009 | 10.5% |
| £48,010 to £51,594 | 10.8% |
| £51,955 to £72,656 | 11.3% |
| £72,657 and above | 13.7% |
A version of this article was first published by our sister title Pulse
