The number of doctors retiring early has more than trebled since 2008, renewing concerns that burnout and high pension tax bills are prompting medics to leave the NHS.

Statistics show that, while 401 GPs and hospital doctors in England and Wales took early retirement in 2007-08, that number had soared to 1,358 in 2020-21 – an increase of 239 per cent in 13 years. Research by the BMJ also suggests that doctors who quit before they are due to retire are also getting younger.

There is growing concern that the pandemic has intensified the strain many medics were already under as a result of the growing demand for NHS care in recent years and increased the number of doctors suffering from mental health problems.

A recent survey of RCGP members found that eight per cent of respondents planned to leave the profession in the next year, 15 per cent in the next two years, and 34 per cent in the next five years. While about half of those were due for retirement, a quarter of GPs involved identified stress and burnout as reasons for leaving.

Martin Marshall, the chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “These figures reflect what we are hearing from our members in general practice. The intense workload and workforce pressures that GPs and our teams have been working under, which far pre-date Covid-19 but have been exacerbated by the pandemic, are taking their toll. When fully trained, often high-experienced GPs are deciding to leave the profession earlier than they planned to due to workload pressure, it is a huge loss to the profession and patient care.”

The British Medical Association, the main doctors’ trade union, said many doctors were retiring early in order to avoid being hit with hefty pension tax bills.

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers and deputy chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “To guard against the risk of even more staff leaving the service we must put their well-being at the centre of our recovery plans and this must be underpinned by urgent investment to address long-standing vacancies.

“For their part health service employers are committed to supporting colleagues to work flexibly, and to ‘retire and return’ so that valuable experience and skills are not lost to the NHS. They are also clear that the government must not act in a way that undermines the confidence of senior doctors in their pensions. In simple terms the Chancellor must ensure that NHS staff are protected from new taxes on their pension savings.”