The chancellor George Osborne announced in the Budget that he will cut the lifetime allowance – the maximum amount that can be saved into a pension – by 20 per cent from £1.25m to £1m from April 2016.

This news will come as a blow to senior doctors who will now lose tax relief on their total retirement savings over £1million. The new lower rate will also catch many middle-earning doctors who are tied into making contributions into their NHS pensions.

The lifetime allowance has already been cut by over 30 per cent from £1.8million in 2011. Those breaching the savings threshold face a 55 per cent tax charge.

This disappointment comes soon after the relatively good news of the pensions freedoms being introduced from April. While the pensions industry at large tries to keep up with the constant tinkering to the rules and regulations, doctors are being penalised for working hard to save for a healthy retirement.

The very nature of the NHS pension means that more doctors than ever before will be trapped by the new lower threshold if they have completed many years of loyal service.

Mr Osborne announced that from 2018, the lifetime allowance would be increased in line with inflation and ruled out further changes to the annual allowance which governs yearly pension contribution sums.

When previous changes to the lifetime allowance figure have been implemented, various forms of pension protection products have been introduced. We await details of any such measure.