Doctors are increasingly being asked by their patients to provide a re
port in support of an application for them to retire from work on the
grounds of ill health. There is evidence that some applications may be
motivated more by financial incentives than by ill health. Doctors sh
ould be wary of a conflict of interest, know the pension company's cri
teria for ill health retirement and provide objective medical evidence
. The decision as to whether the patient fulfils the criteria is best
left to another doctor who is acting as an advisor to the pension comp
any.