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A surge in staff retirements has led to the organisation that handles the NHS’s pensions struggling with the rise in demand.

New workforce data from NHS Digital revealed 9,737 retirements in the three months to April 2022, which is 50 per cent higher than numbers previously reported in the same quarter during the last five years.

The significant rise in retirees applying for their pension has seen the NHS Business Services Authority come under pressure due to the increased workload and admit to some delays in processing applications.

It also comes amid wider concerns about staff burnout.

In a statement, the NHSBSA said: “Of the 6,580 cases processed and paid in July, 83 per cent (5,465) were processed within the 30-day timeframes.

“We expect with the additional measures we have put in place and the increased resource that these delays will be resolved by the end of August and all cases will be processed within the 30-day timeframes.”

Worse than previously reported

More evidence has been revealed that the ongoing crisis in urgent care is much worse than being reported by NHS England.

HSJ previously reported long waits in accident and emergency are around four times bigger than suggested by monthly official figures.

This is because the monthly data being published by NHSE only counts 12-hour A&E waits from a decision to admit, which misses a significant proportion of patients who wait that long from their time of arrival.

Trusts are now beginning to report 12-hour wait data from time of admission themselves, which for the first time enables us to compare the monthly figures at trust level.

HSJ’s analysis of 20 trusts with some of the biggest A&E attendances in England found that some trusts reporting very small numbers of long waits in NHSE data sets actually have thousands of people waiting 12 hours or more from time of arrival.

In total, the data being reported by NHSE’s data sets captured just a sixth of the total long waiters in A&E. This is despite NHSE collecting data on 12-hour waits from time of arrival, and this year telling trusts this was how long A&E waits were to be measured.

HSJ asked NHSE to outline when the time of arrival figures will be published. NHSE only said it’s “looking at options”.

Also on hsj.co.uk today

NHSE has awarded a £30m contract for additional ambulance service capacity to St John Ambulance. Meanwhile, Daljit Lally, a former joint director employed by Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust and Northumberland County Council, has received a £209,000 payout after leaving her roles.