AFTER 36 years practising medicine, and more than two decades as a consultant, Richard Rawlins plans to retire early to enjoy the new pension benefits and forget his frustrations with the NHS.
Mr Rawlins, an orthopaedic surgeon at Bedford Hospital, said that he expected many colleagues to leave before the age of 65, with many now eligible for an extra £10,000 a year in their pensions under the new consultants’ contract.
Now 59, Mr Rawlins said that he would likely retire in the next two years, even before 2007, when he could claim his maximum achievable pension. While the financial incentive was a bonus, like many doctors he has become disillusioned with the NHS.
“I don’t think any of us had plans to go much before we were 65 when we started out on our careers. But the job we are now doing is not the one we trained for, and quite a lot of doctors have had enough.
“Throughout the country they are finding that they are no longer medically qualified practitioners for the civil NHS but civil servants who happen to be medically qualified.
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“We are ever more beholden to very specific demands of a very politically driven structure. Individual-minded professional people are no longer comfortable.”
As well as enjoying a holiday home in Devon, and hobbies including sailing and skiing, Mr Rawlins plans to continue as a doctor in a private capacity, freelancing at his leisure — and at premium private-sector rates — for the NHS. “It is not just about people wanting to take advantage of their maximum retirement benefits. A lot of us will bale out before that point,” he said.
Mr Rawlins, who is chairman of the Eastern Region Consultants’ Committee, said that the feeling among many of his peers was that the NHS was no longer their health service. “We have given our all in terms of commitment and dedication but the Government has failed to take us with it. There seems little reason not to take our pensions and escape all those frustrations.”
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