This chapter gives advice to doctors who provide reports for pension schemes about the merits of a patient’s application for ill health retirement. This is a challenging area of practice in which the structure and wording of the report is important if difficulties are to be reduced. An overview of pension provision in the UK is included as well as advice contained in determinations by the Pensions Ombudsman. Rates of ill health retirement for national schemes are shown against which doctors should audit their practice. In general, a retiree’s perceived health status tends to improve after retirement, although the improvement will attenuate over time. Heavy manual workers are more likely to retire on the grounds of ill health than non-manual workers, which has been attributed to their poorer health and less favourable working conditions.
The Pensions Ombudsman – A review