RIO DE JANEIRO – Sir Keir Starmer has refused to guarantee that GP surgeries and hospices will be protected from rising costs as a result of changes announced in the Budget. The Government has come under criticism over its decision to raise employers’ national insurance contributions, which GP and end of life care providers have warned could force them to cut services or even close. Declining to set the record straight after a series of mixed messages from ministers about financial help for health providers outside the NHS , the Prime Minister instead said Wes Streeting would set out funding arrangements at the end of the year.
Under the measures of the Budget, the NHS is spared having to pay the additional 1.2 percentage points on national insurance contributions, but private operators and charities, such as GP surgeries and hospices, will have to cover the costs. Concerns have also been voiced within the care sector over the decision to increase the minimum wage from £11.
44 to £12.21. Asked whether he could guarantee hospices and GP practices would be spared paying the additional tax, Starmer told reporters: “What the Health Secretary has said is that he’s going to set out funding arrangements later this year in relation to NHS contractors so he will do that.
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