TESTIMONIALS

We have worked with CMS Pension support since 2014 and have always found the team to be very responsible, supportive and helpful. The feedback from our staff is that in a time where pensions have become increasingly complex that the CMS team have helped them immeasurably to plan for and take their pension. The team provide both regular pension surgeries and provide 1:! Advice for our staff. The CMS team also provide us, within the People team, with regular updates and support. Our staff are working at a time of every increasing economic and financial pressure and strain and having this bespoke pension support has been a hugely beneficial support service to our staff. Laurence has provided us with very helpful updates, advice and support and we are very pleased to work with such a great team!

As part of the Foundation Group, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, started working with Circle Medical Services in 2021 expanding the relationship across from our sister Trust at South Warwickshire. Out staff have given us very positive feedback from the outset of our relationship with CMS. Those staff who have attended the pension surgeries have provided very positive feedback. The team are very helpful and their advice and support it very much appreciated by staff, particularly in an ever increasing complex pension landscape. Laurence has provided us with very helpful updates, advice and support and we are very pleased to work with such a great team!

As a Trust we recognised the increasing complexity of the NHS pension scheme, given the different versions of scheme and recent judgements. Given this, we commissioned the Pension Support Service to provide all staff the opportunity to better understand their pension and what the changes may mean for them. Staff now have an easy way to access clear information through a dedicated web site, the option to attend seminars, as well as the opportunity for one to one surgeries and to pose specific questions via email. This has been very much welcomed by all staff with the seminars often being fully booked and significant use of the surgeries. As such, providing staff with access to this type of support has been invaluable to our organisation as well as individual members of staff.

We engaged with Circle and the Pension Support Service to provide a service to staff right across the organisation. I have been very impressed by the clear, concise and practical help and support they have given staff. Feedback from those who have accessed the service has been very positive. – whether that has been general high level information and guidance or more detailed engagement, the professionalism and knowledge of the team has been first rate. As the importance of pensions and their complexity continues to rise, the value of the service to staff and organisations will only increase and we are pleased to have them on board.

We have used the Pension Support Service from CMS for around 2 years and their support couldn’t have come at a better time. Many of our staff are impacted by the NHS Pensions tax rules relating the annual and lifetime allowances and the team have been able to offer one to one appointments to individuals for support. It’s been great having a team who are experts in their field to be able to offer individuals and group sessions to our staff tailored for our needs and requirements. With the current cost of living challenges impacting more and more on our staff having an independent team of experts who can offer advice and support is invaluable

CMS also provide more routine advice and planning for Pensions which are staff find immensely helpful. The team are incredibly proactive, responsive and knowledgeable breaking down what can be quite complex information into easy to digest information.

We commissioned the Pension Support Service as part of a support package for an organisational change programme.  Laurence helped work through a bespoke offering for us and the support has been really well received.  The advisers have provided a combination of workshops and 1:1 support and many have found this helpful in navigating their options as part of the change process.  We are looking forward to working with the team as we move through the next stages of the change programme.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank you for presenting a break-out at our (Urgent Health UK) UHUK Annual Conference on 5th October.

We received feedback from approx. 50% of the delegates who were impressed with your presentation, the majority rating you excellent with comments including: ‘extremely informative’, ‘broke down the jargon of pensions and made it understandable in lay terms. Excellent!’, ‘Hugely valuable session both personally and professionally’. The interest in the room was palpable and it was clear that members gained immensely from the learning.

Thank you once again for joining us and to Ross for his input too, we hope that the day was productive for you. We look forward to keeping in touch and to working with you in the future.

We asked them to work with NHS Elect to provide pensions advice to our team, based on a recommendation from another NHS organisation. We were really delighted with the highly cost-effective and helpful briefing that Laurence Brown provided for us and we have subsequently asked him to support one of our clients in providing a similar service. I would highly recommend them as knowledgeable, responsive and good value