15 March 2023
Responding to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s statement in the House of Commons outlining the government’s Spring Budget, Dr Adrian Boyle, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said:
“There is a serious retention crisis in the NHS. We welcome the increase in the annual tax-free pensions allowance from £40,000 to £60,000 and the abolishment of the lifetime pensions allowance. These are positive steps in the right direction and will help retain senior clinicians in the NHS. The College has campaigned on this for a long time, we are pleased the government has taken these meaningful actions.
“We also welcome the Chancellor’s confirmation that the fully funded long-term workforce plan this government pledged to deliver is imminent. We look forward to seeing the projections and figures. We hope the government builds more on retention in this plan to ensure we do not lose any of our highly skilled and valuable staff in Emergency Medicine.
“Emergency Medicine remains in crisis. Our priorities continue to be to reduce dangerously long-waits associated with patient harm and death, retain our highly competent and skilled NHS staff, and improve patient care. We know the crisis can be tackled; and we have a plan to #ResuscitateEmergencyCare.”
Notes to editor
Five priorities for UK Governments to #ResuscitateEmergencyCare: https://rcem.ac.uk/resuscitating-emergency-care/
