NHS: Terminal Illnesses
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS employees with a declared terminal diagnosis die when in (a) employment and (b) retirement.
Answered by Karin Smyth
Whilst the Department does not hold the information requested, it does hold information on the number of National Health Service staff applications for NHS pension benefits on the grounds of serious ill-health. These pensions may be paid where members of the NHS Pension Scheme are terminally ill and have a life expectancy of less than 12 months.
The following table shows the number of applications for serious ill-health pensions accepted by the scheme administrator, the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), for the last five complete scheme years, and is correct as of 2 September 2025:
Scheme Year | Total Applications Accepted |
2020/21 | 214 |
2021/22 | 222 |
2022/23 | 258 |
2023/24 | 265 |
2024/25 | 259 |
Source: NHSBSA
Notes: These figures do not include NHS staff who are terminally ill but do not meet the criteria for a serious ill-health pension, those who choose to not apply, and those who are not members of the NHS Pension Scheme. Therefore, the numbers of NHS employees with terminal diagnoses who die in employment and retirement may be greater than those set out in the table.
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