We are now recovering from another BMA annual representative meeting in Liverpool. It was eventful and perhaps the most important for us was the presentation of the president's medal to our very own deputy chair Stephen Millar (pictured right) in recognition of the many years he has unstintingly given to supporting the BMA locally, regionally and nationally. Congratulations Stephen.

Aside from this we had a very pleasant retired members' dinner in Liverpool and will be repeating this next year in Brighton for all those attending the ARM and would welcome any others who are near enough to join us – partners are also welcome.

There were a number of motions of particular interest to retired members and some are still working through processes.

We have had a meeting with Fidelius, with the aim of replicating something similar to the sessions we had in Scotland from Chase de Vere focused on issues relevant to retired members. We hope there will be more positive news about this soon.

There has been no progress on Emeritus Consultants 2.0 and at the present time there is no BMA support for this initiative.

2026 retired members' conference

Work is already well under way on arranging the retired members' conference for next year and the date has been set as the 12 March 2026 at BMA House in London. As before this will be a hybrid conference with opportunity to attend in person as well as remotely. Applications to attend are not yet open and we will contact you when it is. You can also see the 2025 conference resolutions and election results on the retired members committee page on the BMA website.

Life membership

We have so far not had success in reducing the number of years needed for life membership as is our policy following the motion at conference this year. We are, however, continuing to pursue the matter with the new treasurer. You might also wish to note that the retired members and minimum income subscriptions are no longer aligned and retired members with no professional income could apply for the slightly lower subscription if they wish. Hopefully, next year we will see them back in alignment and this has also been raised with the treasurer.

Resident doctors industrial action

You will no doubt be aware of our resident colleagues taking industrial action over the coming weekend and into next week. Should you wish to lend them your moral support it would be welcomed. There may well be more action to follow.

Pensions

We are still awaiting resolution of McCloud pension issues for most affected retired members. Your NHS pension should be increased by CPI annually every April, if it is not then please do get in touch with the pensions department.

As always we are pleased to hear from you about anything we have done, should be doing or be considering.

BMA retired members committee chair Peter Curry

BMA retired members committee secretariat Laura Clark