The BMA annual representative meeting seems such a long time ago now but it was good to see those of you that made it and great to see your engagement. If you missed the ARM, where the representatives vote on BMA policy, you can see the highlights here. The retired members dinner was a success and we will be looking to repeat this in Brighton at next year’s ARM.
Any local advice as to suitable hostelries would be gratefully accepted. Partners are welcome and we will expect to be about 20 or so and would be looking for a quieter location that would allow conversation to be heard – remembering that we as a group may have some hearing challenges.
Special representative meeting
Clearly things are moving on in terms of health care provision, particularly in England, and we had a special representative meeting on line last Sunday to debate the risk of the NHS England 10-Year Health Plan to the medical profession at large, and the delivery of safe and effective care to our patients. By comparison with the ARM it was essentially non contentious, with the exception of the Secretary of State referring to those who were not enthused by the 10-Year Plan as laggards and particularly GPs. Apparently, he does not understand why the BMA is not hugely enthusiastic about the proposed changes. There are some things we can get behind but the changes to primary care provision are of significant concern. You can watch a recording of the meeting online and read the speech from Tom Dolphin, our new chair of council.
Leng review
While there seemed to be Department of Health enthusiasm about delivering on the recommendations in the Leng Review in respect of PAs and AAs reverting to ‘Assistant’ rather than ‘Associate’ and not seeing undifferentiated patients, this has not as yet resulted in any action and there has been resistance to change in Scotland. Unfortunately, Anaesthetists United lost their case against the GMC regarding the regulation of PAs and Aas but there is opportunity for consideration of a possible appeal. The working group within the BMA concentrating on these issues is proposing to extend its remit to consider all doctor substitution. Resident doctors have identified significant numbers of unemployed doctors which makes no sense when we are in a position that the NHS capacity is inadequate to meet demand.
Pensions
Retired or indeed retiring GPs would be well advised to consider the issues raised in the GP Pensions newsletter for any issues that might affect them. For those non GPs there is a more general Pensions Newsletter. Members who have already retired are right at the back of the queue for remedy statements which theoretically should be delivered by the end of October - but I would suggest not holding your breath.
Financial advice events for retired members
I have previously commented on our meeting with Fidelius, the BMA’s new financial servicer partner. To date they have not responded to our suggestions. I am not sure where we go from here, but have started to raise it centrally within the BMA. We would like to provide retired members with events offering advice on pensions, primarily obviously NHS, moving abroad, trusts, investments with a focus on low risk, inheritance tax management and provision for long term care. I will keep you updated on progress.
Life membership
We have had further discussions with the treasurer and head of membership to try to sort out inequities in the membership database and explore reducing the number of years required for life membership.
Emeritus consultant scheme
We have made no progress with the Emeritus Consultant process in England and would advise members who return to work that they should reasonably expect contracts and pay in line with that when they retired. If directly employed by the NHS then there should also be support without charge to provide for appraisal and revalidation, including paid time to do it.
Retired members committee
Your retired members committee met in London for a hybrid meeting last week and most of us made into Tavistock Square in spite of the industrial action on the tubes. A useful and constructive day was had in particular, as previously noted, meeting with the head of membership. Our secretariat made special effort to get in using a mixture of bicycles and buses and we are very grateful for their commitment to our cause. I should note that we are increasingly being treated as a full BoP (Branch of Practice) within the BMA and participating in activities across the board.
Scottish council and UK council
Scottish council was also last week to which we are invited to report, although we do not have a separate retired members committee in Scotland, and I attend. The SRM as previously noted was last Sunday and I have been down in London for UK council for a strategy planning development day and UK council meeting this week. I do wonder at the time I spend down in London when the restaurant manager recognises you by name as you arrive for breakfast! This is not meant to dissuade any of you thinking of stepping up to take over from me next year but there is a need to commit a fair amount of time, I am perhaps more challenged with living in Scotland and the need for significant travel and nights away.
Physician assisted dying
Work on influencing the measures within the various administrations looking at physician assisted dying continues. Most are moving forwards in a manner largely consistent with our needs to have sensible and appropriate structures as well as protection for those who do not wish to have any involvement. Unfortunately, while this is true for other areas, Scotland currently stands out as failing in almost every respect however lobbying will continue.
Medical unemployment
There is significant concern across the nations around the issue of medical unemployment and the need to do something about it. You can expect to see more about this sometime soon.
BMA local structures reorganisation
The need to revise local structures continues to challenge the BMA’s organisation committee and our ability to fit in as retired members is not by any means solved. We would love to hear any ideas you may have in respect of how we could develop support for retired members locally, at regional level and what you would like in terms of social opportunities. Unfortunately, this does not mean we will be inviting you to free Michelin starred lunches, however we would be prepared to assist in organising and communicating about activities that you might wish to consider - although as noted this would be at cost.
Webinar subject suggestions and IT support
We would welcome any ideas about webinars you might like us to consider and organise. We already have agreement that should you wish to have personalised support for using online participation in meetings that the IT staff at Tavistock House would be pleased to make appointments with you to provide this. Obviously, they only have a limited capacity and if there is a huge demand we might have to generate a waiting list.
All elected RM representatives group
Retired members are doing a lot of work across the Association in a large variety of elected roles and we will be continuing with meetings a couple of times a year to bring them together. If you consider you are a retired member in an elected role and seem to have not been identified, please do let us know as we want to be inclusive.
Retaining BMA membership into retirement
Retired members as a group are not very well gender balanced and it is an impression that we are exploring that our female colleagues are more likely to abandon BMA membership as they retire. Retirement is increasingly not a binary process and many continue to exercise their grey matter after availing themselves of a pension. You can identify as a retired member if you are in receipt of a pension, even if still working. If you are planning to retire please do feel free to get in touch if there is anything we can help with.
As always do let us know what we perhaps do well, certainly if there is anything we do wrong and indeed anything we could usefully be doing. We do want to hear from you.
Chair, BMA retired members committee
RMC secretariat