More than two million GP appointments could be at risk from the National Insurance (NI) hike, analysis suggests.
While the NHS and the rest of the public sector are protected from the rise, GP practices – which are mostly run as small businesses under Government contracts – will have to pay out.
In the Budget last month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves increased NI contributions for employers on wages from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent, starting in April.
This will raise the average surgery’s tax bill by £20,000 a year, or an estimated £125.5million across all 6,275 practices in England.
And with each patient’s appointment costing surgeries £56, it is feared that to cover the tax rise some 2.24 million appointments could be at risk of being cut – an average of 357 per surgery each year.
Rachel Reeves’ decision to hike employers’ NI contributions could put over two million GP appointments at risk, analysis has suggested
The NI increase will raise the average surgery’s tax bill by £20,000 a year, or an estimated £125.5million across all 6,275 practices in England (file photo)
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, the chair of the Royal College of GPs said the health service needed ‘significant investment’ instead of ‘more worry and financial insecurity’
Family doctors have already warned they will be forced to cut back on staff and reduce the number of appointments they can offer – or may even close.
The analysis was conducted by the Liberal Democrats, who believe GP surgeries should be exempted from the tax rise.
Dentists, pharmacists, social care providers and charities have also spoken of their fears that Ms Reeves’s NI rise could force them to close.
Helen Morgan, the Lib Dems’ health and social care spokesman, said: ‘Clobbering GP practices with higher taxes makes no sense at a time when many people are already struggling to get an appointment.
‘Surgeries are also struggling, and these increased costs will leave GPs with no choice but to cut services and staff numbers. Ultimately it is patients who will pay the price. The Chancellor needs to urgently rethink these proposals and exempt GPs from this misguided tax hike.’
NHS hospitals will be protected from the rise through Treasury back-payments. But GP surgeries, which work mostly as business partnerships and deliver NHS care under government contracts, are not included.
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And many GPs are already ‘working to rule’ in protest at their current contract, capping the number of patients they see.
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘GP teams are working their hardest to provide care for their patients against a backdrop of significant budget constraints.
‘The Government has ambitious plans to move much more care into the community, and we want to work with them to make this happen as we know it’s what patients want. But we need significant investment – not more worry and financial insecurity.’
A Government spokesman 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 NI rise doesn’t kick in until April, and we will set out further details on allocation of funding for next year in due course.’
