{"id":798,"date":"2025-10-20T13:50:47","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T12:50:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/?p=798"},"modified":"2025-10-20T13:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T12:58:12","slug":"collect-full-pension-and-return-to-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/collect-full-pension-and-return-to-work\/798\/","title":{"rendered":"Leave, collect the full pension and return to work \u2014 18,000 beneficiaries show the secret route"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Building a proper nest egg to either support you or your entire family is no easy feat, and it could take years to build. Some may even fear that it will not last as long as initially anticipated. Thankfully, 18,000 beneficiaries show the secret route to<strong> leave, collect a full pension and return to work<\/strong>. It may sound unsanctioned, but thanks to a particular scheme, you can continue to build your nest egg for much longer. Not only does it address nest egg concerns, but it also addresses the ever-increasing loss of trained professionals in the UK.<\/p>\n<h2>An ever-increasing loss of trained professionals<\/h2>\n<p>The loss of trained professionals in the UK is becoming <strong>a significant problem<\/strong>. Several factors play a key role in this ever-increasing loss, especially skill gaps and shortages. According to the IMF eLibrary, by 2030, nearly 20% of the UK workforce could be underskilled for their jobs, with 80% of employers unable to find prospective employees with desirable skills. This will impact the high-skill sectors and skilled trades.<\/p>\n<p>The following factors are also significant contributors to the problem:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Skilled employees seek opportunities abroad due to &#8216;better pay and\/or working conditions, resulting in the so-called &#8220;brain drain&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Income, working conditions, and the lack of employee support make it hard to attract and retain employees<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But perhaps all of this could change. In 2023, a change in rules meant the secret route to &#8216;have it all&#8217; emerged. Health service professionals could now leave, collect the full pension, and return to work.<\/p>\n<h2>Leave, collect the full pension and return to work<\/h2>\n<p>Thanks to the 2015 Section of the NHS Pension Scheme, health service professionals can continue to build their future pension benefits even after they have collected a full pension. As a result, the number of NHS personnel retiring and then returning to work has<strong> reached a new record<\/strong>, with some returning as soon as 24 hours after being retired.<\/p>\n<p>With the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/higher-than-expected-hike-in-water-bill\/700\/\"> hike in water bills spreading terror before Halloween<\/a>, it is no wonder that thousands of personnel are reconsidering coming out of retirement. Data confirmed that 90% of the NHS personnel using the retire-and-return scheme in 2023\/2024 were officers and nurses, with nearly 9,000 returning as employees. A smaller number of doctors also use the scheme, with 664 doctors rejoining the workforce in 2023\/2024.<\/p>\n<h2>18,000 beneficiaries have shown the secret route<\/h2>\n<p>The data obtained from a freedom of information request has revealed interesting numbers. In 2020\/2021, the number of health service pensioners returning to work after collecting the full pension was 4,697. By 2023\/2024, this number had grown to a significant 18,725. For those who advocated for the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/state-pension-age-lowering-update-dwp\/592\/\"> petition to decrease the pension age<\/a>, the pension reforms are a silver lining.<\/p>\n<p>According to a report by The Telegraph, these numbers may have decreased to 12,597 in 2024\/2025, yet it still highlights that <strong>thousands of NHS personnel use the retire-and-return scheme<\/strong> due to pension reforms. The NHS pensions specialist at Quilter, Graham Crossley, who obtained the data, had this to say:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;This data shows just how much appetite there is for flexibility among NHS staff. Retire-and-return and partial retirement are proving vital for retaining experienced clinicians and nurses &#8211; but they also add complexity. Without proper guidance, staff risk making decisions that could affect their long-term financial security.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It thus goes without saying that a vital decision such as this one must not be taken lightly. While the retire-and-return scheme is an ingenious approach to prevent the loss of trained professionals, especially in a field as vital as the health service, one must<strong> be careful not to put all eggs in one baske<\/strong>t. Ensure you are well-informed about all the fine print when it comes to pensions and flexible working. For more information about the retire-and-return scheme, please visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.england.nhs.uk\/looking-after-our-people\/the-programme-and-resources\/pensions-and-flexible-working-in-your-later-career\/retire-and-return\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NHS England official website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Building a proper nest egg to either support you or your entire family is no easy feat, and it could take years to build. Some may even fear that it will not last as long as initially anticipated. Thankfully, 18,000 beneficiaries show the secret route to leave, collect a full pension and return to work. &#8230; <a title=\"Leave, collect the full pension and return to work \u2014 18,000 beneficiaries show the secret route\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/collect-full-pension-and-return-to-work\/798\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Leave, collect the full pension and return to work \u2014 18,000 beneficiaries show the secret route\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=798"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":812,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798\/revisions\/812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}