FAMILY doctors have been warned by the Government that their soaring salaries may be making their future pensions unaffordable.

Doctors’ leaders have been called in to talks by the Department of Health over fears that 30 per cent rises in the salaries of GPs in the past five years will stretch NHS pension funds. Any attempt to reduce pension entitlements would be vigorously opposed by doctors, who regard them as deferred salary.

Although GPs are technically “self employed”, they pay into the NHS pension scheme in the same way as all staff directly employed by the NHS.

GPs’ pensions are based on career average earnings and earlier earnings are subject to a multiplier to reflect changes in the value of money. But the recent big salary increases have increased this multiplier more than was allowed for when the contract was negotiated.

In a letter to GPs, Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British Medical Association GPs committee, said that there were three concerns to the Government: uncertainty about the final multiplier figure, affordability of the pensions and the potential impact on negotiations with other NHS unions.

The pension problem could delay final agreement on a package of measures agreed between the BMA and the department on the next stage in the GP contract. These include a new set of inducements to promote government programmes, but no automatic increases in line with inflation.

From April the average practice will be able to collect an extra £11,000 for “practice-based commissioning”, by which GPs will become responsible for commissioning care from hospitals, and another £5,500 for offering patients the choice of where they go for operations. Critics such as Professor Alan Maynard, of the University of York, say there is little evidence to show that the increases, of 20 per cent a year, are justified. “It was an extraordinarily generous contract and a bad deal for the taxpayer,” he said yesterday. “The latest deal is an opportunity missed. GPs have been very skilful in avoiding major changes and retaining income levels.”

Dr Meldrum acknowledged that he had been under strong pressure from the Treasury and the Department of Health over the latest negotiations. There had been a “perception of overpayment” from the GP contract, he said.

The key to rising GP earnings has been the “quality and outcomes” part of the contract, which rewards GPs with points that translate into cash. There are almost 1,000 points on offer, with each worth £125. GPs earned far more points than expected, adding an unexpected £300 million to the pay bill.

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