Summary
- Pre-retirement support for your staff
- At a time and place to suit you
- Group seminars and one-to-one appointments available
- Online or face-to-face
- Included as a standard part of your service – no additional cost, other than travel & subsistence.
“I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU again. You are all so knowledgeable in your field and the feedback has been incredible already.”
Helen Gauntlett
People Engagement Team
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
NHS pensions are complicated.
With three different schemes, and many staff considering gradual retirement, bank work or even retire and return, responsible employers need to support their people to make a timely and informed decision.
NHS SBS can help. Every organisation using SBS’s payroll and pensions service is entitled to up to two pre-retirement seminars per year.
These can be delivered in a variety of ways – online, or face to face, in a group setting, or as a series of one-to-one appointments with staff members.
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust chose a mixture of group seminars and one-to-one appointments for their staff in a pre-retirement information campaign held in summer 2025.
With more flexible retirement options being added to the scheme rules over the past few years, more staff have access to pension benefits.
Knowing this, East Sussex Healthcare decided to make the most of the support on offer.
They opted to hold two on-site face-to-face seminars – one at their Hastings site, and one in Eastbourne. Each seminar was immediately followed by a series of one-to-one appointments to allow interested staff to fully understand their pension options.
Around 80 members of staff attended a 90-minute pre-retirement presentation, covering topics like the three sections of the NHS pension scheme; the McCloud judgement and the different pension options available.
A further 50 people attended one-to-one sessions. Lasting up to 20 minutes each, these sessions give staff members the opportunity to ask questions which are particularly relevant to their circumstances, safe in the knowledge that they are speaking with a highly-experienced pensions officer who has their NHS pensions and contributions history at their fingertips.*
*NHS SBS is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and does not provide, or purport to provide, financial advice.
All East Sussex staff who attended a pre-retirement seminar or one-to-one session said they found it helpful.
Feedback included:
- “This is the third retirement session I’ve attended, and by far the best”
- “Really helpful to have a one-to-one and to ask specific questions”
- “I have recommended this session to all my team. Very helpful.”
- “Great speaker who kept the audience engaged by explaining the minefield of pensions in simple terms.”
