BMA and Capita in disagreement over thousands of 'missing' GP pension records

Thousands of GPs in England are experiencing significant issues with their pension records due to ‘maladministration’ by Capita, the BMA has claimed.

According to BMA, ‘one of the biggest challenges’ that GPs face is out of date and inaccurate pension records, with ‘missing years’ of pensions data ‘due to mismanagement of pension records’ – which could lead to delays in pension payments.

But Capita told Pulse it rejected the BMA’s assertion that missing pensions records are the result of its mismanagement.

A missing year is where the record of pensionable pay may be incomplete for a specific year and therefore a GP’s NHS pension record will not be up to date.

‘The scale of the problem is likely to mean that a significant proportion, running into the many thousands, are affected,’ the BMA said.

Its pensions committee has launched a campaign urging GPs to take action to make sure that records are up to date, so ‘informed decisions’ can be made about pension savings, retirement plans and the McCloud remedy.

Primary Care Support England (PSCE), which handles back-office functions for GPs such as administration of pensions and transfer of medical records, has been supplied by the company Capita since 2015.

The BMA said: ‘We are aware that thousands of GPs in England have “missing years” of pensions data due to PCSE’s maladministration of pension records.

‘We have been consistently highlighting the failures of PCSE (run by Capita), and the significant importance of them fixing this issue as soon as possible.

‘Unfortunately, there has not been sufficient progress to resolve this issue, so we are now encouraging you to take action to get your pension records in order.’

The committee added that it has met with Capita, NHS England and NHS Pensions once every two months, and reiterated the importance of resolving these issues as soon as possible, especially with the upcoming McCloud remedy decisions.

It added: ‘GPs should be able to view accurate and up to date information about their pension and the new NHS Pensions “My Pensions Portal” is also not fit for purpose in providing such information.

‘This is primarily a data issue, and your accrued pension entitlement will be honoured. However, it is important that your actual pension record is correct and up to date to ensure that you can make appropriate decisions about your pension, including around the McCloud remedy, and assessing any annual allowance tax liability.

‘Having an up-to-date record will also enable any pension payments upon retirement to be paid in a timely manner.’

The BMA’s campaign advised GPs that, if information provided by NHS Pensions shows there are ‘missing practitioner years’, this should be raised as a complaint to PCSE.

Steps recommended by the BMA

1. Request information about your pension from NHS Pensions

2. Raise a complaint in relation to with PCSE

3. Escalate the complaint to NHS England

4. Seek compensation as a result of maladministration by PCSE

5. Ask for the Pensions Ombudsman’s help

6. Report PCSE to the Pensions Regulator

7. Seek help from BMA Pensions Department

Source: BMA

Capita told Pulse that it was factually incorrect to state that missing years are due to PCSE’s ‘mismanagement’ of pension records.

They claimed that over 15,000 GPs have not submitted the necessary Type 1 or Type 2 forms for one or more pension years in which they have been an active scheme member, and without these forms PCSE are unable to update their record.

A Capita spokesperson told Pulse: ‘We reject the BMA’s assertion that missing pensions records are the result of PCSE mismanagement.

‘We are currently waiting on responses from more than 8,000 GPs who need to provide certificates to resolve missing years in their pensions records. More than 3,000 cases submitted to us after the 31 March deadline are still being processed.

‘It is not appropriate or helpful to advise all GPs who have missing years to raise a complaint, when we may be awaiting action from GPs and when an increase in spurious complaints will simply lead to delays.

‘We will continue to work collaboratively with the BMA to resolve issues for their members, but urge GPs to check their PCSE Online Record in the first instance.’

An NHS Pensions spokesperson told Pulse: ‘We’re working with the British Medical Association, Primary Care Support England, and NHS England to resolve historic issues with some individual GP member records. Improvements have been made and we’ll continue to support the work in this area.‘

GPs have experienced numerous problems with Capita’s performance in the past, such as delays with the processing of their pensions at the start of retirement.

And a Pulse’s investigation revealed the scale of issues faced by GPs because of Capita’s poor administration.

Last year, NHS England said it may split up its primary care support services into separate units from 2025 when the current Capita contract is up for re-procurement.

Earlier this year, NHS data revealed that more than 2,000 GPs have failed to claim their NHS pension payments in time.

And experts warned that thousands of NHS pension members affected by an age discrimination could face ‘significant costs’ as part of the McCloud remedy.