GPs demand ‘urgent assurances’ over employers’ national insurance hike

ITV News Political Correspondent Harry Horton explains why GPs are so concerned by the increase in employer’s national insurance and will ‘soon have to face their own difficult choices’
Top GPs have called for “urgent assurances” from the health secretary that practices will be exempted from the hike in national insurance employer contributions announced in the Budget.
It comes amid warnings that some surgeries will make staff redundant as a result of the change, while some care homes could be forced to close.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the tax hike on Wednesday, with organisations representing care homes and hospices voicing concerns about the sector’s ability to plug the funding gap.
There have also been concerns about the impact on GP surgeries, with one practice manager suggesting it could cost about £40,000 a year.
The Royal College of GPs (RCGP) said it has contacted Wes Streeting, seeking assurances that practices will be protected like “the rest of the NHS and public sector”.
College chairwoman Professor Kamila Hawthorne said: “We are writing to the health secretary today asking for urgent assurances that GP practices will be given the same protection as the rest of the NHS and public sector and receive the necessary funding to cover these additional costs.
“We have very serious concerns about the impact of the increase in national insurance employer contributions on GP practices right across the country, many of whom are already struggling to keep their doors open and make ends meet due to historic chronic underfunding.
“They are working their hardest to provide quality care for their patients against a backdrop of significant budget constraints and staffing challenges – and this added level of insecurity will only compound these pressures.
“For some, this extra financial burden will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, forcing them to make tough decisions on redundancies or even closing their practice, and ultimately it is our patients who will bear the brunt.”
Discussing reporting around GPs and the impact of the rise, Downing Street pointed to the “annual GP contract process”.
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A No 10 spokeswoman said contracted workers, including GPs, were not eligible for an exemption from the NICs hike, which she said was consistent with the approach of previous governments.
“There is a general process whereby departments, the Department of Health for example, confirm their funding for general practices,” she said. The spokeswoman added: “I think that’s part of the annual GP contract process. I believe that will take place later in the year.”
A government spokesperson said: “We have taken tough decisions to fix the foundations so a £22 billion boost for the NHS and social care could be announced at the Budget.
“The employer national insurance rise doesn’t kick in until April, and we will set out further details on allocation of funding for next year in due course.”
Meanwhile, a care group also called on the government to exempt social care providers from the hike or ring-fence funding to cover it.
Independent Care Group (ICG) chairman Mike Padgham said: “The government has to do something and it has to do it quickly, as I am already hearing from providers that this might be the last straw for some of them.”
Care England, which represents providers in adult social care, said the national insurance rise, combined with wage rises, will leave the sector with “an additional circa £2.4 billion funding hole to plug”.
On social care, No 10 said: “We are taking action to support the social care sector more generally. There is a real-terms increase in core local government spending power and I think at least £600 million of new grant funding provided to address pressures in the sector.”
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