The UK's Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has raised “serious concerns” about the potential impact of the newly announced rise in National Insurance (NI) contributions for businesses from April 2025.
In a letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, the RCGP's chair professor Kamila Hawthorne has asked for assurances that GP practices would be protected from the hike – as is the case elsewhere in the NHS and public sector.
GP practices are treated as small businesses in the UK and are set to be hit by the tax rise. However, Hawthorne has voiced “very serious concerns about the impact of the increase in National Insurance employer contributions on GP practices right across the country, many of whom are already struggling to keep their doors open and make ends meet due to historic chronic underfunding.”
She further warned that an increase in NI payments could see a drop in the standard of care offered to patients and open the door to potential redundancies.
“For some, this extra financial burden will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, forcing them to make tough decisions on redundancies or even closing their practice, and ultimately it is our patients who will bear the brunt,” said Hawthorne.
From 6 April next year, the rate of employer NI contributions will increase from 13.8%, to 15%. Simultaneously, the per-employee threshold at which employers (including GPs) must pay will be reduced from its current £9,100 per annum to £5,000 per annum.
This will increase each practice’s costs by an estimated £20,000 annually, according to the Institute of General Practice Management (IGPM). In its response to the budget, the IGPM pointed to Streeting’s previous pledge to “bring back the family doctor”, arguing that “this budget will not bring us closer to this reality without adequate funding to resource it.”
The Institute of General Practice Management response to the 2024 Budget announcement. pic.twitter.com/YlT7Tv69Fm
— The IGPM (@TheIGPM) October 31, 2024
A spokeswoman for 10 Downing Street reportedly suggested to journalists that the next contract process would take into account some of the financial concerns raised by medical bodies.
“There is a general process whereby departments, the Department of Health, for example, confirm their funding for general practices,” she said. “I think that’s part of the annual GP contract process. I believe that will take place later in the year.”
Elsewhere in the budget, Labour shared plans to provide an additional £22.6bn for the Department of Health and Social Care to be committed over 2025 and 2026. According to the budget, the funding will provide an additional 40,000 elective appointments weekly and will be used to ensure that patients wait a maximum of 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment.
