National insurance rise could give GPs ‘no choice but to cut services and staff’

The rise in employers’ national insurance contributions in the Budget will leave GP surgeries with “no choice but to cut appointments and staff”, according to analysis from the Liberal Democrats. The party said the rise could end up costing GP surgeries the equivalent of over two million appointments a year and it is calling on the government to exempt GPs and other health and care providers from the increase, which is due to come into force next April. Public sector organisations are set to receive additional funding to cover the extra costs from the NI hike – but the private and voluntary sectors are expected to use their own funds.

GP practices, which deliver NHS services but are mostly run as small businesses, are currently due to be hit by the rise. From next April, employers will have to pay NI at 15 per cent on salaries above £5,000, instead of the current 13.8 per cent on salaries above £9,100.

The Institute of General Practice Management has estimated that the rise will mean the average GP surgery’s tax bill will go up by around £20,000 a year. The 6,275 GP practices in England could end up facing a total of £125.5m a year in additional costs.

This is the equivalent of providing 2.24 million GP appointments, at £56 per appointment. The average GP surgery could therefore lose the equivalent of 357 appointments a year.

The Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Helen Morgan said: “Clobbering GP practices with higher taxes makes no sense a.