Invited discussant comments during the UCL-Penn Global COVID Study webinar 'Reflections, Resilience, and Recovery: A qualitative study of Covid-19's impact on an international adult population's mental health and priorities for support': part 2 of 3.

This discussant commentary considers the findings presented from the UCL-Penn Global COVID Study webinar 'Let's Talk! What do you need to recover from Covid-19?'. The research presented highlights a number of key issues that have affected people of all ages throughout the pandemic. Our aim with this article is to reflect on these themes and, using our own qualitative and quantitative research conducted throughout the pandemic, explore whether the people we spoke to in later life expressed challenges, concerns and frustrations with the same issues as those expressed in Dr Wong's study. As a national charity that supports people in later life, Independent Age has been incredibly concerned by the impact of the pandemic specifically on people aged 65 and over, and believe more must be done by decision-makers in the government and National Health Service (NHS) to support them to recover from the pandemic.

Invited discussant comments during the UCL-Penn Global COVID Study webinar 'Reflections, Resilience, and Recovery: A qualitative study of Covid-19's impact on an international adult population's mental health and priorities for support': part 3 of 3.

This discussant commentary considers the findings presented from the UCL-Penn Global COVID Study webinar 'Let's Talk! What do you need to recover from Covid-19?' and published in Wong et al's article in this journal, Reflections, Resilience, and Recovery, drawing into focus the support required to recover from the changes in people's mental health, physical health and relationships brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. Acknowledging the importance of not making broad generalisations about the effect of the lockdown allows us to see individuals in their own context and their own particular challenges. As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, we need to use the lessons from this study as the foundations for building resilience against future pandemics.

Invited discussant comments during the UCL-Penn Global COVID Study webinar 'Reflections, Resilience, and Recovery: A qualitative study of Covid-19's impact on an international adult population's mental health and priorities for support': part 1 of 3.

This discussant commentary will consider global health before the pandemic in relation to the UCL-Penn Global COVID Study survey results on what participants need to recover from the pandemic. It explores the case for expanding access to health care, the importance of culturally sensitive interventions and the need to scale up psychologically evidence-based interventions. Reflecting on the UCL-Penn Global COVID Study 'Let's Talk! What do you need to recover from Covid-19?' webinar, the commentary highlights the recommendations from the British Psychological Society (BPS) to the government on what needs to happen for a better recovery.

Too Much of a Good Thing? Australian Cash Transfer Replacement Rates During the Pandemic

During the early stages of the COVID‐19 pandemic in 2020 the Australian federal government temporarily expanded the level of cash relief available to the working‐age population through supplemental benefit payments, a wage subsidy and allowing lump sum withdrawals from private pensions. Here we examine the scope and direct distributional consequences of these measures. Two in five working‐age Australians received at least one of these three forms of transfer over a 12‐month window. The median recipient had close to half their pre‐COVID‐19 income ‘replaced' by transfers. The programs interacted to create a two‐tier welfare safety net that put in place a poverty‐alleviating income floor for workers in low‐earning occupations and those on unemployment benefits, and provided job certainty and greater direct income support to those with higher incomes. Aggregate weekly incomes were higher during the initial period of COVID‐19 than they were pre‐COVID‐19. Descriptive exercises, such as this, do not provide information about the ‘impact' of pandemic policies and are limited to what they directly measure. That noted, we raise an important question for decision‐makers facing future shocks: at what point is there ‘too much of a good thing' with crisis cash transfers?

Rural-Urban Differences in Workers' Access to Paid Sick Leave

Paid sick leave (PSL) is associated with health care access and health outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of PSL as a public health strategy, yet PSL is not guaranteed in the United States. Rural workers may have more limited PSL, but research on rural PSL has been limited. We estimated unadjusted and adjusted PSL prevalence among rural versus urban workers and identified characteristics of rural workers with lower PSL access using the 2014–2017 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. We found rural workers had lower access to PSL than urban workers, even after adjusting for worker and employment characteristics. Paid sick leave access was lowest among rural workers who were Hispanic, lacked employer-sponsored insurance, and reported poorer health status. Lower rural access to PSL poses a threat to the health and health care access of rural workers and has implications for the COVID-19 public health emergency and beyond.

Families' Job Characteristics and Economic Self-Sufficiency: Differences by Income, Race-Ethnicity, and Nativity

Policy debates about whether wages and benefits from work provide enough resources to achieve economic self-sufficiency rely on data for workers, not working families. Using data from the Current Population Survey, we find that almost two-thirds of families working full time earn enough to cover a basic family budget, but that less than a quarter of low-income families do. A typical low-income full-time working family with wages below a family budget would need to earn about $11.00 more per hour to cover expenses. This wage gap is larger for black, Hispanic, and immigrant families. Receipt of employer-provided benefits varies—health insurance is more prevalent than pension plans—and both are less available to low-income families, and black, Hispanic, and immigrant working families. Findings suggest that without policies to decrease wage inequality and increase parents' access to jobs with higher wages and benefits, child opportunity gaps by income, race-ethnicity, and nativity will likely persist.

COVID-19 AND THE EUROPEAN GOVERNANCE OF PENSIONS: CHANGING INSTITUTIONS AND IDEAS

This article explores the impact of COVID-19 on the governance of pension policy in the European Union (EU) and investigates the main characteristics of both stability and change in the EU strategies for pension policy. The governance of pensions has attracted the interest of many analysts. Pensions are in fact one of the milestones of the welfare state in EU Member States, while they have been the target of the EU strategy for the retrenchment and modernization of national social policies. The article focuses on three different areas of intervention: the European Semester;the European Pillar of Social Rights;and the Next Generation EU. Drawing from the extensive literature on institutional change, we argue that, whereas significant changes in priorities and instruments have occurred, these have been the result of a process of rapid evolutionary change through layering, suspension, and updating which has resulted in ideational and institutional bricolage. All these changes seem consistent with the potential revision of the EU strategy and priorities in pension policy. © Società Editrice Il Mulino.

The politics of pension policy responses to COVID-19: comparative insights from Chile, Bolivia and Peru

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a debate around the world on whether pension systems should be used to support individuals in economic distress. In Latin America, Chile, Bolivia and Peru have passed legislation allowing withdrawals from pension pots, yet with some significant variation. We argue that these measures cannot be simply understood because of the COVID-19 emergency alone but should also take into consideration the combination of legacies from previous pension re-reforms and the political institutional setting. We find that where previous re-reforms have been difficult to implement or have not been implemented at all and the institutional setting makes change difficult, measures that lead to a significant amount of savings being withdrawn may be favoured by political actors as a way to break the stalemate. By contrast, where re-reforms have been largely implemented and the political institutional setting poses few barriers to change, withdrawals may be more limited. ©

Accounting Offices in View of Requirements Introduced by the Polish Deal

Purpose: The objectives of the Polish Deal include a plan for better and more financially supported healthcare system, lower taxes and higher remunerations. The assumption of the government's development plan is to recover from the crisis generated by COVID-19 pandemics and create better life conditions for all citizens. Accounting offices have been especially interested and obliged to thorough analysis of dynamic taxes modifications. This publication aims at presenting challenges encountered by these entities due to numerous amendment of tax regulations. The specific objective is the analysis of chosen tax modifications presented to citizens and in many cases dealt with by accounting offices. Design/Methodology/Approach: Critical analysis of literature and legal acts, case studies, logical reasoning. Findings: In the opinion of many owners of accounting offices, but not only, the regulations should enter into force with a sufficiently long vacatio legis, giving the opportunity to acquire knowledge, test and implement software, and communicate with taxpayers or employees. Too high dynamics of tax changes introduced in a short period of time contributes significantly to the decrease in the quality of services provided and an increase in risk for accounting and bookkeeping offices. Practical implications: The presentation of changes in the Polish Governance in the area of personal income tax is a valuable overview and source of information for a wide range of practitioners. Originality/value: In addition to the presentation of the introduced changes, the article presents specific examples of calculations based on the latest provisions of the Polish Order of July 2022.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Disability Fund in Poland

This study addresses, for the first time, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operation of the disability fund in Poland. The study considers the impact of deaths on the number of survivor pensions and funeral allowance paid. We selected benefits which are a direct consequence of the death of the insured person and do not involve a medical assessment or subsequent steps in the insurance procedure, which allowed for a novel result, avoiding the time-gap problem. Data of four years were included in the study: 2018 and 2019 as pre-pandemic years and 2020 and 2021 as pandemic years. The research presented in this article (unexpectedly) indicates that there is no impact of the increased number of deaths on the increase in the number of survivor pensions and therefore there is no negative impact of the COVID-19 implications on the disability fund. The relationship between the total number of deaths and the number of funeral allowances is characterized by a high correlation with a positive direction.

Pension systems in south-eastern Europe: what worked and what did not

Many south-east European states made the transition from socialist to market economies. All described here had to reform their pension systems to match the new context in which these operated. The experiences of 10 countries are reviewed – seven of which were once part of Yugoslavia. Some countries’ reforms were more radical than others. Five of them merely adapted the Bismarckian systems they had inherited;four others adopted the “three pillar” model that the World Bank had been propagating. One went further than that. The four who followed World Bank model were often forced to backtrack. Whatever the longer-term benefits, they generated their own shorter-term fiscal problems. Nonetheless, the most radical reformer gives some indications of possible ways forward. The south-eastern European states do not have financial markets that can support capitalised/funded pension systems. Nor do they have the resources to pay proportional pensions that, at the same time, keep retired people out of poverty. The article suggests that their governments should concentrate upon improving economic performance to satisfy longer term aspirations and on ensuring that pensioners are able to live properly if not luxuriously by using tax-financed transfer measures. Provision above this level can be secured through savings plans, but it must be accepted that the investments to secure those savings will have to be made abroad.

Seven days in medicine: 13-19 July

Covid-19 BMA calls for long term plan to keep cases low The BMA urged the UK government to develop a long term plan to keep covid cases at low levels after the latest Office for National Statistics survey showed that an estimated one in 19 people in England, one in 17 in Wales and Northern Ireland, and one in 16 in Scotland tested positive in the week to 6 July.1 Philip Banfield, BMA council chair, said, “There must be recognition from the government that heightened waves of infection lead to greater staff illness and absences, stretching health and care settings to the limit and beyond.” For adults over 40, consuming a small amount of alcohol (one to two small glasses of red wine) can provide some health benefits, such as reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, said the study. Many factors contributed to the decline, including an increased number of children living in conflict and fragile settings, increased vaccine misinformation, and covid-19 related issues such as service and supply chain disruptions.8 NHS 111 Online service made no difference to call handlers’ workload The introduction of an online version of NHS 111 in England made no discernible difference to the workload of the existing telephone helpline service being provided to the public, a study published in BMJ Open concluded.

COVID-19 and the opportunity to change the neoliberal agenda: evidence from socio-employment policy responses across Europe

Much of the recent literature on the COVID-19 pandemic agrees on the uniqueness of this crisis. Assessments of the subsequent policy response in Europe diverge, however: while some see signs of policy change, others consider the empirical evidence to be inconclusive or, worse, consistent with a reinforcement of neoliberalism. The present article aims to contribute to that debate by providing a preliminary assessment of policy measures in the areas of health care, employment protection and pensions. Recent measures are viewed in terms of the neoliberal paradigm, which is used as a benchmark to identify any sign of innovation. While it is too early CO talk about a true paradigmatic transformation, the evidence collected from international datasets and official documents confirms that ideas and policy measures show signs of change. The article also suggests that the study of ideas is a promising field of enquiry with which to improve our understanding of the pandemic and its effects.

Precarity in Later life: Understanding Risk, Vulnerability, and Resilence

Neoliberalism is a policy framework that promotes the transferring of economic factors from the public sector to the private sector;it endorses limiting government spending, government regulation, and public ownership;and fosters stimulating free market capitalism (Brown, 2003;Greenhouse, 2010). Since the 1980s, with Ronald Reagan in the United States and Margaret Thatcher in the U.K., neoliberalism ushered in the policies of austerity and reduced government spending on social programs in general, and for older people (Pierson, 1995). In gerontology, this set of ideas challenged the heterogeneity of aging, contributing insights on power relations in regard to age and multiple and diverse social locations (Calasanti, 2009;Calasanti and King, 2015). (2017) , "Precarity draws attention to the implications of neoliberal practices that have altered late life through the combined impacts of the increased short-term contracts, decline in trade unionism, and declining forms of social protection that include a reliance on family/kin or market care, and private market pensions." Even prior to the COVID-19 crisis, the relationship between the construction of older people and the political response to their needs was shifting. Since the 1980s, a vortex of complementary demographic (the older population's tremendous growth), economic (anemic growth);fiscal (unprecedented budget deficits), and political (deeply embedded left-right conflict) pressures emerged (Hudson and Gonyea, 2012).

Concentration of tourist arrivals in tourist and agri-tourist guesthouses in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 versus 2019 in Romania

The paper analyzed tourist arrivals in tourist and agri-tourist guesthouses of Romania in the year 2020 compared to 2019 in order to evaluate in what measure this tourism indicator was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The data provided by National Institute of Statistics allow to establish the dispersion of tourist arrivals in the territory of the country by the eight microregions of development and also to quantify the levels of the specific concentration indices: Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, Gini-Struck Index and Coefficient of Concentration. After the year 2019, which reached the top arrivals, overnight stays and receipts in Romania's tourism, the year 2020 brought the Covid-19 pandemic which has disturbed tourism performance. However, in Romania the effects on tourism industry were lower than in other countries. In the periods of relaxation measures, tourists chose safe destinations for combining both the visits to objectives of high interest with tourist services of accommodation and meals at a convenient tariff. From this point of view, tourist and agri-tourist guesthouses were among the best alternatives, and they recorded a higher growth rate of tourist arrivals than at the national level in tourism industry. In 2019, tourist arrivals were higher in the tourist pensions located in the Center, North West, North East and West parts of the country, and in agri-tourist pensions situated in Center, North East, and North West. In 2020, the guesthouses situated in Centre, North West and North East regions registered the highest tourist arrivals. A moderate concentration of the arrivals was confirmed by the values of Herfindahl-Hirschman index which varied between 0.15 and 0.25, by the values of Gini-Struck index which were higher than 0.3 in the year 2019, but a little lower than 0.3 in 2020, and the values of Concentration coefficient which were higher than 0.33. Due to the reduced arrivals in 2020, all the concentration indices had lower values than in the year 2019. As final conclusion, in Romania,it is a moderate concentration of tourist arrivals, and even thou in 2020 there were problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, tourist and agri-tourist guesthouses were an alternative for accommodation and meals, harmoniously combining the need of safety with the desire to visit the tourist attractions of high interest.

Can defined contribution pensions survive the pandemic? The Chilean case

The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic threatens the viability of Chile’s defined contribution (DC) pension system, undermining its financial foundation and exposing its vulnerability to political risk. The COVID‐19 crisis led to the approval of three rounds of emergency withdrawals of 10 per cent of pension savings (as of April 2021). Utilizing pension funds during an economic crisis is neither new nor uncommon – during the Great Recession, several countries in Central and Eastern Europe diverted DC pension funds to cope with the fiscal stresses. As Chile prepares to draft a new constitution, debates about the efficiency and equity of the pension system are ongoing. In this regard, and as the political response to the pandemic demonstrates, the DC system has failed to live up to its promise of ending political risk and preventing the diversion of pension funds for other expenditures.Alternate :L’incidence de la pandémie de COVID‐19 menace la viabilité du système de pensions à cotisations définies du Chili, en mettant à mal ses ressources financières et en révélant sa vulnérabilité face aux risques politiques. En raison de la crise de COVID‐19, les Chiliens ont pu effectuer, à trois reprises, des retraits d’urgence de 10 pour cent de leur épargne pension (à partir d’avril 2021). La libération de fonds de pension en pleine crise économique n’est pas nouvelle ni unique: durant la Grande Récession, plusieurs pays d’Europe centrale et de l’Est ont détourné l’utilisation des fonds de pension à cotisations définies pour faire face à la pression fiscale. À l’heure où le Chili s’apprête à rédiger une nouvelle constitution, les discussions concernant l’efficacité et l’équité du système de pensions vont bon train. À ce sujet, et comme l’ont révélé les mesures politiques prises face à la pandémie, le système à cotisations définies n’est pas parvenu à tenir ses promesses et à écarter les risques politiques, ni à empêcher le détournement des fonds de pension à d’autres dépenses.Alternate :Los efectos de la pandemia de COVID‑19 amenazan la viabilidad del sistema de pensiones de cotización definida, puesto que menoscaban su situación financiera y exponen su vulnerabilidad a riesgos políticos. La crisis de la COVID‑19 ha llevado a la aprobación, en tres ocasiones y con carácter de emergencia, de la retirada del 10 por ciento de los ahorros para las pensiones (a partir de abril de 2021). Recurrir a los fondos de pensiones durante una crisis económica no es nuevo ni inusual. Durante la Gran Recesión, en varios países de Europa Central y Oriental se emplearon fondos de pensiones de cotización definida para hacer frente a la presión fiscal. Mientras Chile se prepara para redactar una nueva constitución, prosiguen los debates sobre la eficiencia y la equidad del sistema de pensiones. A este respecto, y como han puesto de manifiesto las medidas políticas adoptadas para hacer frente a la pandemia, el sistema de pensiones de cotización definida no ha cumplido la promesa de acabar con los riesgos políticos y de evitar que se desvíen los fondos de pensiones para otros gastos.Alternate :Die Auswirkungen der Coronapandemie bedrohen die Funktionsfähigkeit des chilenischen Rentensystems mit festgelegten Beiträgen, da die Pandemie die Finanzgrundlage aushöhlt und das System politischen Risiken ausgesetzt hat. Aufgrund der Coronakrise wurden drei Runden von Notfallbezügen in Höhe von zehn Prozent der Rentenansparungen genehmigt (Stand April 2021). Die Verwendung von Rentenansparungen in wirtschaftlichen Krisenzeiten ist weder neu noch ungewöhnlich. Während der Großen Rezession zweigten verschiedene Länder Mittel‐ und Osteuropas Vermögenswerte aus Renten mit festgelegten Beiträgen ab, um die Haushaltsengpässe zu meistern. Da Chile vor dem Entwurf einer neuen Verfassung steht, wird rege über die Effizienz und Gerechtigkeit des Rentensystems diskutiert. Wie die politischen Reaktionen auf die Pandemie je och zeigen, ist das Rentensystem mit festgelegten Beiträgen seinem Versprechen, politische Risiken abzuwenden und die Abzweigung von Rentengeldern für andere Ausgaben zu verhindern, nicht gerecht geworden.Alternate :Пандемия COVID‐19 ставит под вопрос жизнеспособность пенсионной системы в Чили, которая основана на уплате фиксированных взносов: она подрывает её финансовую основу и делает её уязвимой в политическом отношении. Ð’ условиях кризиса COVID‐19 трижды был одобрен экстренный вывод со счетов 10% пенсионных накоплений (по состоянию на апрель 2021 года). Ð’ использовании пенсионных фондов на фоне экономического кризиса нет ничего нового и необычного: во время мирового экономического кризиса несколько стран Центральной и Восточной Европы перенаправили средства из пенсионных фондов с уплатой фиксированных взносов, чтобы справиться с финансовой нагрузкой. Ð’ то время как в Чили разрабатывается проект новой конституции, продолжаются дебаты об эффективности и справедливости существующей пенсионной системы. Ð’ связи с этим и принимая во внимание политическую реакциую на пандемию, можно заключить, что система, основанная на уплате фиксированных взносов, не смогла выполнить свои обязательства по устранению политических рисков и предотвратить перенаправление пенсионных средств на покрытие других расходов.Alternate :冠状病毒大流行病的影响威胁着智利固定缴费养老金计划的可行性, 削弱了计划的财政基础, 并暴露了计划易受政治风险影响的脆弱性。冠状病毒危机导致批准了三轮紧急提取10%的养老金储蓄(截至2021å¹´4月)。在经济危机期间利用养老金基金既不新鲜也非罕见——在大衰退时期, 中欧和东欧的多个国家挪用了固定缴费养老金基金以应对财政压力。随着智利准备起草一部新宪法, 关于养老金计划效率和公平的争论仍在继续。在这方面, 正如大流行病的政治响应所表明的那样,固定缴费计划未能兑现承诺, 即结束政治风险和预防养老金基金用于其他支出。Alternate :يهدد تأثير جائحة COVID‐19 استدامة نظام المعاشات التقاعدية ذات المساهمة المحددة في الشيلي، مما يقوض أساسه المالي ويجعل هشاشته عرضةً للمخاطر السياسية. وأدت جائحة COVID‐19 إلى الموافقة على ثلاث جولات من عمليات السحب الطارئة بنسبة 10 في المائة من مدخرات المعاشات التقاعدية (في نيسان/أبريل 2021). إن استخدام صناديق التقاعد أثناء الأزمة الاقتصادية ليس بالأمر الجديد ولا غير المألوف؛ فخلال فترة الركود العظيم، استعملت العديد من البلدان في وسط أوروبا وشرقها صناديق التقاعد ذات المساهمة المحددة لمواجهة الضغوط المالية. وبينما تستعد الشيلي لصياغة دستور جديد، لا تزال المناقشات حول كفاءة وعدالة نظام المعاشات ا „تقاعدية جارية. وفي هذا الصدد، وكما تشير الاستجابة السياسية للجائحة، فقد فشل نظام المعاشات التقاعدية ذات المساهمة المحددة في الوفاء بوعده المتمثل في إنهاء المخاطر السياسية ومنع تحويل أموال المعاشات التقاعدية إلى نفقات أخرى.Alternate :O impacto da pandemia de COVID‐19 ameaça a viabilidade do sistema de aposentadoria de contribuição definida (CD) do Chile, minando sua base financeira e expondo sua vulnerabilidade ao risco político. A crise da COVID‐19 levou à aprovação de três rodadas de saques emergenciais de 10% da poupança previdenciária (a partir de abril de 2021). O uso dos fundos de pensão durante uma crise econômica não é novo nem incomum – durante a Grande Recessão, vários países da Europa Central e Oriental realocaram os fundos de pensão CD para enfrentar as tensões fiscais. No momento em que o Chile se prepara para elaborar uma nova constituição, debates sobre a eficiência e a equidade do sistema de aposentadoria estão em pauta. Nesse sentido, e como demonstra a resposta política à pandemia, o sistema CD não cumpriu a promessa de acabar com o risco político e impedir a utilização dos fundos de pensão para outras despesas.

The Past, Present and Future Direction of Government-Supported Active Aging Initiatives in Japan: A Work in Progress

Active aging programs are seen as an important strategy for the long-term sustainability of Japan given population aging and fertility decline trends. This paper reviews Japan’s commitment to active aging initiatives since the 1960s with a focus on the development of senior clubs, welfare centers for the elderly and senior colleges. The changing patterns of their popularity are discussed in relation to the increased options available today and the changes taking place in the family structure with both a macro historical review and a case study to demonstrate how programs have been implemented with national and local funding support. A description of the U.S. experience is used to demonstrate the comparative level of commitment that Japan has made to support healthy aging. The recrafting of the active aging motif as shogai gen’eki, with its emphasis on continued employment, may suggest a redirection of the preferred role of Japan’s older adults in the future

The future of social security in the post-pandemic period: setbacks, continuities and opportunities in a persistently unequal region

This article briefly reviews Social Security prevalent paradigms, objectives and trends in Latin America, focusing on economic security programs for seniors in the Southern Cone. It also identifies the five main areas that influence and determine the performance of social security and addresses some of the impacts produced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, it discusses some emerging issues that need to be included in the social security debate and policies.

Bringing Back the State: Understanding Varieties of Pension Re-reforms in Latin America

Pension policy is a highly political issue across Latin America. Since the mid-2000s, several countries have re-reformed their pension systems with a general trend toward more state involvement, yet with significant variation. This article contends that policy legacies and the institutional political setting are key to understanding such variation. Analyzing the cases of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile, this article shows that where a weak legacy, characterized by low coverage and savings rates, a weakly organized pension industry, and strong societal groups that oppose the private system, combines with a strong institutional setting, characterized by a government with large support in Congress and where the president concentrates decisionmaking, re-reform outcomes may lead to the outright elimination of the private pillar. Conversely, where a strong legacy combines with a weak institutional setting, re-reform outcomes will tend to maintain the private pillar and expand only the role of the public one.

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) Consultant Workforce in the UK: reducing consultant numbers resulting from recruitment issues, pension pressures, changing job-plans, and demographics when combined with the COVID backlog in elective surgery, requires urgent action.

Mean retirement age for UK doctors is 59.6 years, giving the average OMFS consultant approximately 20 years of practice. Current pension tax regulations, new consultant posts typically restricted to a maximum of 10 sessions (40 hours), increasing proportions of consultants working less than full time (LTFT), all combined with the backlog of elective care created by COVID-19 will create a significant gap between workforce capacity and clinical demand. The age of current OMFS consultants was estimated using the date of their primary medical/dental qualification. Changes in job plans were estimated using data from the BAOMS Workforce Census and from recently advertised posts. Reports of unfilled posts were collated by OMFS Regional Specialty Professional Advisors (RSPAs). First degree dates were identified for 476 OMFS substantive consultant posts. Estimated current average age of OMFS consultants was 52.7 years (minimum 35.9, maximum 72.1), 75th centile age 59.0 and 23% of the current consultant workforce above the average retirement age for doctors. The 10 sessions of new OMFS consultants posts is significantly less than existing consultants' average of 12.1 sessions (48.4 hours). Unfilled consultant posts in Great Britain are 13% of the total compared to 20% in Northern Ireland and Ireland. Many (23%) of the OMFS consultant workforce are above average retirement age. Forty-hour contracts; new consultants working LTFT; and early loss of senior colleagues because of pension pressure will reduce NHS' capacity to treat OMFS disorders and injuries. This paper suggests increasing consultant posts, increasing trainee numbers, and actively retaining senior surgeons to maintain capacity.