The Department of Health's 'proposed final agreement' for the NHS Pension scheme marks the end of negotiations between ministers and unions. The offer proposes hike of 6% in pension contributions by 2014/15 and a shake-up of the pensions retirement age that will see many doctors forced to work until they are 68.
Dean Royles, director of the NHS Employers organisation says: "After intensive and at times challenging discussions, it is right that NHS staff now have the opportunity to thoroughly consider the costs, benefits and features of the NHS pension proposals and what it means for them now and in the future. We all owe it to staff to move beyond the headlines into the bones of the schemes.
"NHS trusts clearly understand the anxiety of their staff around changes to pensions and I know they will do all they can to ensure staff have access to and are signposted to information sources.
"It is essential that all parties now focus on helping staff to make informed decisions. I know this can be challenging when some unions are considering balloting for industrial action but let's give staff some space to weigh up the issues.
"The NHS Employers organisation has developed a number of resources for trusts to use, to help them understand the pension details so they support and signpost staff. These include frequently asked questions, slide sets, examples of how pension benefits would be affected and details of where staff can go for more information from the Department of Health."
But Unite has called for rejection of government's final public sector pensions' package, saying the Government is "steamrolling" through its final offer on public sector pensions, having avoided any meaningful negotiations over the last year.
Unite called on ministers to return to the table for "genuine" talks with the unions.
Unite's assistant general secretary, Gail Cartmail said: "The coalition's mask has finally dropped - they are pushing through a pensions' package without having held real and genuine negotiations over the last year.
"Ministers are using these hefty increases in pension contributions as an additional unfair tax on NHS workers to pay for the deficit caused by reckless bankers who have played havoc with the British economy and caused misery to millions of working people and their families.
"Now many public sector workers - the bedrock of local communities, such as nurses and teachers - face working longer before they retire. The prospect of a 68-year-old paramedic lifting patients will become a reality with the increased risk to patients. Do the public really want to see this?"
