GPs could be forced to cut services or even close their surgeries because of “cruel” costs imposed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget, ministers have been warned.
The hike in employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) and increases in minimum wage rates will force family doctors to make cuts “impacting upon patient care”, the chairwoman of the British Medical Association’s GP committee told the Health Secretary.
Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer used a letter to Wes Streeting to urge him to guarantee that “GP practices will not bear the burden of hikes” by allocating funds from the Budget to cover their increased costs.
HMT have given DHSC £22.6bn
— Katie Bramall-Stainer (@doctor_katie) November 12, 2024
There is now a choice to be made
There’s an opportunity here - if waiting lists are the must-do, who’s best placed to articulate the prioritisation of those decisions with their patient?
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She said: “GPs and their practices across the country are reeling at the cruel anomaly of on the one hand being denied funding to cover the employers’ NICs rise, NMW (national minimum wage) and NLW (national living wage) increases because – according to the Treasury – we are ‘private sector’.
“Yet equally ineligible for any reimbursements open to small private sector companies because – according to the Treasury – we are ‘public sector’.
“This unhelpful paradox will ultimately lead to NHS GP practices being forced to cut services and cut staff – impacting upon patient care.”
She said the Government should give GPs support to meet increasing demands “not add to the extensive burden they are already facing”.
“For some NHS GP practices, this will result in them having to close their doors entirely,” she warned.
At her first Budget, the Chancellor increased the rate of employers’ NICs by 1.2 percentage points to 15% and slashed the threshold at which the tax starts being paid from £9,100 to £5,000 to raise £26 billion a year.
But she also announced an extra £22.6 billion in day-to-day health spending.
Dr Bramall-Stainer called on Mr Streeting to confirm that some of that money would be used to compensate GPs for the tax hike.
“It is crucial that you deliver this reassurance as swiftly as possible,” she said.
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 national insurance rise doesn’t kick in until April, and we will set out further details on allocation of funding for next year in due course.
“We will also hire an extra 1,000 GPs into the NHS by the end of this year, having already announced a contract uplift for GPs and practice staff, and we will ensure practices have the resources they need to offer patients the highest quality care.”
