This depends on when you left NHS employment.
If you’ve not worked in the NHS since your NPA, your pension will be backdated to your NPA. You’ll receive a mandatory taxable back payment of your pension benefits. You cannot choose the date your back payment of benefits will be paid into your account.
If you’re an active member of the NHS Pension Scheme, your benefits will only become payable when you leave NHS employment. There is no backdating of pension to your NPA.
If you opted out of the 1995 or 2008 Section of the NHS Pension Scheme but continued to work in the NHS until after your NPA, your pension benefits from that Section of the Scheme can only be paid from when you leave NHS employment or if it's been 5 years since the date you last paid in. You’ll not be entitled to have your pension backdated unless you’ve opted out for a period of 5 years after your NPA.
If you want to start claiming your NHS pension and return to NHS employment, there’s restrictions that apply when returning to work after retirement.
Late retirement factors
If you’re a member of the 2008 Section or 2015 Scheme and work past your NPA, your pension will be increased using late retirement factors.
Members will have a late retirement uplift applied upon immediate retirement after NPA, or up to a maximum of 5 years after they've opted out of the Scheme but continued to work. If you stop contributions and do not continue to work after your NPA, late retirement factors will not apply.
When you claim your pension from the 2008 Section after your NPA, any pension earned before NPA will be increased.
When you claim your pension from the 2015 Scheme after your NPA, all your pension will be increased.
Increases for late retirement do not apply where pension benefits have been deferred and claimed after reaching your NPA.
The late retirement factors that will be applied to your pension are supplied by the Government Actuary's Department (GAD).
You must work at least one calendar month after your NPA to qualify for late retirement factors to be applied to your pension.