McCloud remedy and your NHS pension: what your RPSS means and what to do next

If you are among the hundreds of thousands of doctors and other NHS staff whose pension has been recalculated in line with the McCloud remedy, then you may have already received a letter from NHS pensions, which refers to your Remedial Pension Savings Statement (RPSS).

In this article, our specialist Healthcare accountants unpick what the statement shows and the choices it offers, before outlining everything to check before you take any further action.

What happened and why

Between 2015 and 2022, the NHS Pension Scheme moved from an older structure, generally referred to as the 1995 or 2008 scheme, to a reformed 2015 scheme. Members closer to retirement at the time were allowed to stay in the older scheme, while younger members were moved into the reformed one. Eventually, a legal challenge found that this age-based approach amounted to age discrimination.

The proposed solution, known as the McCloud remedy, covers what is called the remedy period, from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022. For that period, everyone affected has had their pension rolled back into their legacy scheme, generally the 1995 or 2008 scheme, regardless of age. From 1 April 2022 onwards, the 2015 scheme is the only scheme open to any member.

If you are concerned about the cost of correcting errors in your pension record, read why GPs should not be left paying to fix NHS pension mistakes.

What your RPSS shows, and where delivery currently stands

Your RPSS sets out two versions of your pension position for the remedy period:

1. What your benefits look like now that you have been rolled back into your legacy scheme.

2. What they would have looked like had you remained in the 2015 scheme.

By providing both figures side by side, the statement allows you or your adviser to evaluate which option is better for you.

As of July 2026, NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) had issued RPSS to 122,036 members, with 19,694 of the most complex cases still outstanding. The government’s current forecast for completing this remaining work is March 2027.

However, no new statutory deadline has yet been set for the wider rollout of Remediable Service Statements (RSS, the related statement covering pension benefit recalculation rather than tax position), which remains dependent on procuring extra calculation capacity and new automation software which it still in testing.

Around 450,000 of the 1.1 million affected members have already retired, and NHSBSA has been asked to prioritise the roughly 49,000 retired members likely to receive higher benefits from their McCloud choice, of whom only 13,982 had received statements by 24 June 2026.

Because delivery has repeatedly fallen behind, this page will be reviewed as NHSBSA reports further progress. NHSBSA now publishes delivery data monthly, available at NHSBSA’s McCloud remedy delivery dataset. (Source: Parliamentary written statement, 13 July 2026, HCWS228)

The choice you still have

Being rolled back into your legacy scheme is not the end of the story, when you reach retirement and go to claim your pension, you’ll have another choice: keep your legacy scheme benefits or elect to receive your 2015 scheme benefits for the remedy period instead.

It is also worth considering any decisions you made, or avoided making, because of the 2015 reforms at the time. If you opted out of the pension scheme because of large Annual Allowance tax charges under the old rules, for example, you may now be able to reinstate that missing service under the remedy. This is worth raising directly with your adviser rather than assuming the original position still stands.

What to check when your statement arrives

A few things are worth checking as soon as your RPSS lands, rather than filing it away.

Where possible, check the figures against your own records, particularly if you’ve worked as a locum, or had breaks in service during the remedy period.
Be aware that the recalculation itself may affect your annual allowance position. Because your pension growth for the remedy years has been remodelled, some members find the revised figures push them over their annual allowance threshold for a year where they previously had no tax charge, or alter the size of a charge they already knew about. This should be reviewed properly rather than assuming the original position still holds, particularly as changes to annual allowance will result in reporting any changes to HMRC.

If the recalculation has exposed a gap in your record

Some members are finding that the McCloud recalculation has surfaced gaps in their underlying pension record, missing years, periods where contributions were not correctly recorded, or details NHS Pensions does not hold accurately. If your RPSS looks incomplete or inconsistent with what you expect, this is usually the cause, and it can take time to resolve, particularly where old payroll information needs to be traced back to a previous practice.

Compensation for financial and tax losses: the NHS Cost Claim Back Scheme

If the McCloud remedy has caused you a financial or tax loss, whether through professional fees, a shortfall you have had to cover, or another cost directly tied to the recalculation, you may be able to claim compensation through the NHS Cost Claim Back Scheme. Full details and the claim form are available on the gov.uk website.

Our team can help you decide whether you are eligible and support you in completing the claim.

How we can help

Working out what your RPSS means for your tax position, or reconstructing a pension record where information is missing, is not always straightforward, particularly where it involves records held by a previous employer.

If you would like help understanding your RPSS, resolving gaps in your NHS pension record, or claiming under the Cost Claim Back Scheme, Price Bailey’s Healthcare team can talk you through it. Get in touch using the contact form below.

We always recommend that you seek advice from a suitably qualified adviser before taking any action. The information on this page is intended as a general guide only. While we work to keep our content accurate and up to date, we cannot guarantee that it reflects the position at the time you are reading it. No responsibility for loss occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of this material can be accepted by the authors or the firm. For more information on our editorial process, click here.

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