Ministry of Health and Department of Health and Social Security: Health Services...

This series contains files of the Ministry of Health and successor (mainly from the SD series, but including earlier files from the 94,000 series) dealing with the planning, implementation, and development of the National Health Service Superannuation Scheme, and the winding up of earlier pension schemes. Includes files on the drafting of the regulations and correspondence with various bodies operating existing schemes on the terms available to their members, codes of procedure and a set of NHS superannuation leaflets.

• Department of Health and Social Security, Health Services Superannuation Division, 1968-1972
• Ministry of Health, Health Services Superannuation Division, 1949-1968

The National Health Service Superannuation Scheme is contributory, and was established by statutory regulations under section 67 of the National Health Service Act 1946, for the benefit of employees of the authorities instituted under the act. The National Health Service came into being on 5 July 1948.

Employees who were transferred to the Service on that date could opt to join the new superannuation scheme or to retain the rights and conditions of their existing schemes. These schemes ranged from statutory schemes (such as the Local Government Superannuation Scheme), to schemes based on insurance policies, (such as the Federated Superannuation Scheme for Nurses and Hospital Officers), and, in the case of general medical and dental practitioners extended to privately arranged insurance policies.

The Superannuation Division of the Ministry of Health was responsible for drafting the original regulations, studying the existing schemes then in operation and advising employees of their options. The regulations governing both the main and the transitional provisions of the new scheme were amended from time to time, notably by the National Health Service (Supernannuation) (Amendment) Regulations 1960.