Ill Health Retirement NHS Pension

Gizmo1979

Hi, I was wondering if someone could help me please?  My union haven't been very helpful at all with this but I am currently going through the process of my contract being terminated due to ill health - I have long covid causing systemic muscle, bone and joint pain, extreme fatigue, stress incontinence, anxiety, depression, PTSD, brain fog, insomnia and has caused my once well controlled asthma to become so severe it affects every aspect of my daily life (I cannot even climb the stairs without my HR and RR increasing and O2 Sats decreasing.  I am 45 but was told by union that I am too young to receive tier 2 on the ill health retirement.  Can anyone give me any help/advice please?  I have been seen by OH and am awaiting medical records form GP, Asthma specialist and Consultant Clinical Psychologist.  Many Thanks x

Marcon

Gizmo1979 said:

Hi, I was wondering if someone could help me please?  My union haven't been very helpful at all with this but I am currently going through the process of my contract being terminated due to ill health - I have long covid causing systemic muscle, bone and joint pain, extreme fatigue, stress incontinence, anxiety, depression, PTSD, brain fog, insomnia and has caused my once well controlled asthma to become so severe it affects every aspect of my daily life (I cannot even climb the stairs without my HR and RR increasing and O2 Sats decreasing.  I am 45 but was told by union that I am too young to receive tier 2 on the ill health retirement.  Can anyone give me any help/advice please?  I have been seen by OH and am awaiting medical records form GP, Asthma specialist and Consultant Clinical Psychologist.  Many Thanks x

There is no minimum age for receiving ill health early retirement benefits - BUT the problem with 'very young' applicants is how hard it is to predict 'permanency', which is a requirement for Tier 1 and Tier 2. To quote from the NHS's own guide: 

Eligibility for NHS Pension Scheme ill health retirement benefits is based on whether your health problems are likely to prevent you from carrying out the duties of your NHS employment, or regular employment, until the Schemes’ normal pension age.

For the purpose of ill health retirement benefits ‘permanently incapable’ means until the Scheme’s normal pension age. The normal pension age is 60 in the 1995 Section, age 65 in the 2008 Section or State Pension Age (SPA) in the 2015 NHS Pension Scheme (or age 65 if this is later).

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/2024-08/NHS_Pensions_Ill_health_member_guide_%28V1A%29.pdf

Long COVID is still very much a 'new' illness (for obvious reasons), which makes it extremely difficult for any medical practitioner to predict what might happen in terms of patient recovery. I suspect that's what your union is actually driving at, rather than just your age, but I suggest you ask them to clarify what they meant. Also have a look at page 8 of the guide (link above).

squirrelpie

Sorry to hear of your illness. If you haven't already, you might want to contact the MEA. See https://meassociation.org.uk/long-covid-me-cfs-overview/ as a starting point.