Doctors get a nasty taste of Gordon Brown's pension medicine Gradually, however, some doctors began to contract out-of-hours work to co-operatives; and when the new contract came along, many more took the opportunity to drop unsocial hours. People who fell ill at night or at the weekend increasingly used hospital A&E services or contacted NHS Direct, which was staffed by locums rather than their doctor. The old bonds were severed. Moreover, even when the local surgery is open it can be nigh on impossible to see the doctor you want, when you want. In a big city like London, GP practices have become so huge that it can take a fortnight to get a routine appointment. Against this background, it is hardly surprising that doctors have struggled to secure a sympathetic hearing for the case they make about their pensions. They point out that they face a big rise in contributions - effectively a pay cut. GPs, who are self-employed, pay the employer contribution as well, though this is part-funded through the practice. The BMA says that when income tax, professional fees and training loans are added up, the average doctor is not as well remunerated on an hourly basis as a lawyer or a banker, even though a small number are paid substantial sums. The public reaction to the new GP contract was so overwhelmingly negative that this explanation is simply not being heard. Indeed, it is arguable that the Government is using the pension reform to claw back some of the gains that accrued to GPs as a result of Labour's reckless bargain. The fact still remains that even when they have to pay more and retire later, the index-linked, defined-benefit NHS scheme is still vastly superior to the privately managed pensions the rest of us must endure. Someone wanting to retire on the average GP pension of £48,000 would need to save more than £1 million. For most people, a combination of state larceny, demographic change and economic turmoil has seen the value of pensions and annuities plummet. Most final salary schemes have been shut, to existing and new members. Of those that remain, the majority are in the public sector - partly funded by the people who have lost their own. So why not move the doctors (and MPs and civil servants, for that matter) into private sector pension schemes? The public sector unions condemn what they call "a race to the bottom," where their pensions are dragged down because the private sector has been so badly hit. They have a point - and for that, they too can blame Gordon Brown. But while the doctors may have been taken aback by the response to their strike, it is perfectly rational in the context of the past 10 years. Rightly or wrongly, they are perceived to have done well out of the taxpayer at a time of financial hardship for many others. If they want to point to the mote in our eye, they must look to the beam in their own.