GP partners have been urged to write to their MP demanding a U-turn on the Government’s decision not to refund practices for the increased National Insurance contributions (NICs) that will take effect from next April.
The BMA has asked GPs to contact their practice’s MP as a matter of urgency and explain the financial impact of the rise in the rate of employer NICs by 1.2 percentage points – to 15%, as was announced in last week’s Autumn Budget.
The threshold at which employers become liable to pay NI on each employee’s salary was also reduced from £9,100 per year to £5,000 per year. In addition, the National Living Wage will increase from £11.44 to £12.21 an hour from April 2025, worsening the financial pressures practices will face.
Since the chancellor’s announcement, the Treasury confirmed that funding has been set aside to protect the spending power of the public sector, including the NHS, from the direct impact of this changes.
But GPs have been excluded from this, as funding to offset the increased NICs costs does not include support for the private sector or ‘private sector firms contracted out’ – with GPs generally operating as independent businesses for this purpose, according to the Treasury.
In a message to GPs sent last Friday, the BMA said that the Budget ‘failed to protect GP practices’ from the NICs increase, while GPs are ‘already under severe financial strain’ due to ‘years of neglect’, and invited practices to communicate this to their MP.
It said: ‘This additional cost is one they simply cannot afford. The Government must treat GPs like other parts of the NHS and urgently reverse this decision.
‘We need all GP partners to write to their MP, outlining the risk this will have on practices in their constituencies and ask them to immediately raise this issue with the Treasury and Department for Health and Social Care.
‘MPs will be debating the details of Budget next week, so it’s vital the Government is hearing our voice beforehand.
‘The Government has promised to repair and invest in the NHS. But this decision could see an adverse impact on patient care and the potential for more practices to close their doors for good.
The BMA has asked GPs to email MPs using a template tool they have put together and that can be accessed here.
Meanwhile, the Dispensing Doctors Association (DDA) has also urged dispensing practices to write to their MPs pointing out that ‘there is no justification’ for excluding practices from the compensation arrangements announced in the Budget for other NHS bodies.
‘General practice is the front door to the NHS – the increases in employers’ NICS and Living Wage could close many of those doors for good,’ said DDA Chairman Dr Richard West in a letter to health secretary Wes Streeting.
Speaking to Sky News yesterday, Rachel Reeves said the NHS should fund any compensation to GPs via the extra £22.6bn announced in the budget.
‘What the tax increases on Wednesday paid for in part was a £22.6bn investment into the National Health Service and the National Health Service will now make the allocations to GPs, for example,’ she said.
Pressed on whether the NHS would be expected to cover the tax rise, she added: ‘These are matters for the NHS to make the allocation of money to, for example, hospices as well as GP surgeries, but there’s enough money now in the NHS budget to fund those priorities.’
The Department for Health and Social Care confirmed to our sister publication Pulse that further detail on NICs for GPs will be confirmed in due course, and that it is working with the Treasury to ensure appropriate compensation for the public sector.
Alongside tax hikes, the chancellor also announced public spending increases with an additional £22.6bn going towards day-to-day health spending, and £100m ‘earmarked’ for GP estates upgrades.
A version of this article first appeared on our sister title Pulse
