The way in which 24 hour retirement is processed will depend on how the retirement is being handled.
NHS Pension Scheme (NHSPS) regulations E1 (1) - 'A member who retires from pensionable employment on or after attaining age 60 shall be entitled to a pension under this regulation'.
A member has to actually retire to claim their pension, the 24 hour break can be done on any day of the week, including a weekend or a bank holiday, regardless of their regular working pattern.
A member is defined as:
- "member", except where the context otherwise requires, means a person who is in pensionable service under this Section of the scheme or a person who has been in such service and in respect of whom benefits under this Section of the scheme are, or will become, payable;?
- "dentist performer" means a dental practitioner whose name is included in a dental performers list and who performs primary dental services under--
- A GDS Contractor is defined as "....a person who is a party to a GDS contract"
To retire as a GDS Contractor (performer), the GDS Contractor has to cease to be a performer (practitioner) in NHS pension terms in the same way that a dental surgeon in a hospital has to cease to be a dental surgeon. The minimum requirement is 24 hours.
If a GDS Contractor is part of a partnership they have to leave the partnership, otherwise they have not ceased to be a party to a GDS Contract. If a GDS Contractor is a shareholder in an Ltd Co. / LLP they have to cease to be a shareholder, otherwise they have not ceased to be party to that GDS contract and therefore are still a GDS Contractor in NHS pension terms.
Returning as Provider:
In cases where the performer returns to the contract and re-join the *partnership (or Ltd Co. / LLP) with the agreement of the incumbent partner, the contract may remain with the original provider. Retirement will close the performer's current dates of tenure and period of service for pension purposes (*Compass requires there to be at least two partners one of which is required to be GDC registered -'a responsible dentist')
Returning as Performer:
In cases where the provider returns to the contact as a performer only, action is required by the Commissioner to add them to the contract in Compass as a performer only.
If an 'individual dental practitioner' (sole provider) is taking over as provider after the retirement of a partner, the Commissioner should create a new Provider ID to facilitate this.
When the existing partner is taking over as a sole provider after retirement, the Commissioner should use the 'Contract Provider Change' in Compass to reflect this.