GP practices will need to find an average of £70,000 each to cover the costs of upcoming changes to the National Minimum Wage and National Insurance, the Institute of General Practice Management (IGPM) has said.
A UK-wide survey by the IGPM estimates the total financial impact on practices at £550 million – a figure the organisation described as ‘significantly higher than previous estimates suggested’.
The survey, which gathered data from 500 practices, found that the average cost of increasing salaries for staff on the National Minimum Wage stands at £36,000 per practice. An additional £34,000 is required to maintain wage differentials, bringing the total cost to £70,000 per practice.
The IGPM invited practice managers to use a salary calculator to assess how these upcoming changes would affect their financial sustainability.
Even with a 7.2% uplift to the core contract, many practices will struggle to maintain services and staffing levels if expected to absorb the full cost of these increases, the IGPM warned.
Kay Keane, practice manager at Urban Village Medical Practice in Manchester and a director at the IGPM, highlighted the critical role of practice managers in navigating these financial pressures.
‘Managers must forecast changes and monitor external factors affecting a surgery’s ability to operate. They are acutely aware of the impact these increases will have on payroll and overall financial stability,’ she said.
The IGPM said many practices already allocate 90–100% of their core contract funding to staff costs. The organisation is calling for GP practices to be exempt from these increases, similar to exemptions granted to other health and social care providers.
If an exemption is not granted, the IGPM argues that practices will require additional funding through core contract increases, local and direct enhanced services, QOF payments, and other NHS-funded contracts.
Without such support, the IGPM warned that GP practices will struggle to maintain current service levels, let alone improve patient access.
The membership body said a major impact of the increased costs would be staff reductions, leading to fewer appointments and worsening patient care – an outcome contradicting the government’s plans to improve healthcare access.
It added that, in the worst cases, practices would hand back their contracts and close due to no longer being financially viable.
