The 2013 round of CEAs (Clinical Excellence Awards) has finally been announced. The awards – which will now be backdated to April 2013 – had been delayed following a report from the Doctors and Dentists Review Board (DDRB) recommending extensive changes ‘so that they better recognise current excellence’.

The amount of awards has reduced considerably in recent years; since 2010 the number of national awards has been halved to around 300. Consultants are currently eligible to receive national or local CEAs ranging up to £75,000 per annum.

The downside

If you have received an award, be mindful of the impact on your pension. Consultants who gain a CEA can discover their achievement proves to be a substantial tax burden. Those receiving significant annual increases or one-off reward payments such as a CEA could be a target for the Annual Allowance rate which was cut to just £40,000 in April this year.

This rate could be breached by the yearly increase in NHS pension benefits alone, before considering the impact of your private pension contributions. Remember that the onus is on the individual to tell HMRC if you are liable for a tax charge.

The increase in pensionable pay from a CEA could also negate the strict rules of Fixed Protection 2012 which do not allow further contributions into your NHS pension fund. The original ‘Fixed Protection’ scheme was created to allow pension savers to restore their previous Lifetime Allowance limit to £1.8million after the rate was cut to £1.5million in 2012.