Is your pension on track?

Some practice nurses face retiring on a smaller income than they expected because they were unknowingly excluded from the NHS Pension, or haven’t built up as much pension as they hoped. The benefits of the NHS Pension have been downgraded twice since 2008 and practice nurses employed by GP surgeries didn’t even qualify for it until 1997. The impact of those losses can go unrealised until it’s too late to adequately remedy the shortfall.

Are you affected?

You were excluded from the NHS Pension if employed as a practice nurse before September 1997. The effect upon your retirement prospects depends on how many years you missed out on the NHS scheme, and the value of any contributions you managed to build in an alternative workplace pension, if your employer provided one. Sadly alternative schemes are unlikely to match the NHS Pension.