GP leaders have urged the UK Government to permanently resolve the National Insurance contributions (NICs) issue instead of relying on contract negotiations to reimburse practices.
The rate of employer NICs increased by 1.2 percentage points – to 15% – from 6 April with GPs excluded from protection from the hikes as they were not deemed part of the public sector.
However, yesterday the UK LMC conference passed a motion ‘asserting’ that general practice is ‘an intrinsic part of the public sector’. It went on to ‘insist’ that ‘the solution lies with the Treasury’ and ‘should not be dependent on pay negotiations in the four nations’.
Increased NICs could be the ‘tipping point’ for general practice, risking contract handbacks and therefore needs an ‘urgent resolution’, the motion added.
Presenting the motion, deputy secretary for Ayrshire and Arran LMC Dr Alexia Pellowe said the suggestion that general practice sits outside NHS was ‘insulting and demoralising’.
‘The cost of meeting this increase will come directly out of already overstretched practice budgets. Practices will be forced into impossible choices, whether to cut clinical hours, reduce admin capacity, or reduce partners’ income, just to keep the doors open,’ she added.
‘This feels like a targeted attack on the GP practice partnership model, the very model that has allowed general practice to be the most efficient and cost effective part of the NHS.’
Only one LMC representative spoke against the motion, urging caution about asserting general practice as a public sector entity, while a larger number spoke in favour stressing the impact of the NICs hike on their practices and partner income.
While the BMA’s GP Committee for England has agreed to a funding uplift for 2025/26 intended to cover the NICs hike, other nations are still negotiating the size of uplifts, amid threats of industrial action.
The motion was passed in all parts.
Motion in full
Passed in all parts:
AGENDA COMMITTEE TO BE PROPOSED BY AYRSHIRE AND ARRAN: That conference is gravely concerned about the budget announcement regarding the increases in Employers’ National Insurance Contributions (ENIC) and the national living wage; the impact of this on general practice and:
(i) highlights that this raises the risk of being the tipping point for already overstretched general practice funding and that the stability of general practice is contingent upon the urgent resolution of this issue
(ii) asserts that NHS general practice is an intrinsic part of the public sector
(iii) demands that the UK government ensures the full cost of these increases is funded for general practice and warns that failure to fund these increases will directly compromise patient services
(iv) warns that without urgent intervention many practices will be left with no alternative but to hand back their contracts
(v) insists that the solution lies with the treasury and should not be dependent on pay negotiations in the four nations.
Source: BMA
