The Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) was involved in
the analysis, planning and discussions of the new life
assurance scheme for frontline NHS staff and social care
workers in England.
The Health and Social Care Secretary made the
announcement at the daily press briefing at the
end of April. The scheme will provide a £60,000 payment to
families of eligible workers who die from coronavirus in
the course of their essential frontline work. GAD played a
role in supporting the introduction of this scheme.
Cross-government working
We worked closely with the Department of Health and Social
Care to support discussions across government to consider
possible approaches and costings.
Bereaved family members will receive a £60,000 lump sum
worth roughly twice the average pensionable pay for NHS
staff, with the cost met by the government. This will cover
full, part-time or locum NHS and public health workers,
including GPs, dentists, retired staff and second and final
year students taking up paid frontline roles.
The scheme is
now live on the website of the NHS Business Services
Authority.
GAD’s calculations
GAD actuary Garry Swann was involved with the discussions
and said: “We provided some initial advice to assist with
the formulation of the policy.
“We then carried out more detailed analysis to illustrate
various potential costs across a range of health workers,
including those not currently in the workforce, for example
returning from recent retirement.”
As part of these calculations, GAD also carried out
calculations to demonstrate the potential sensitivity of
these costs as well as the impact of varying assumptions,
such as the size of the workforce.
