Dwyfor Meirionnydd’s GP surgeries and care homes will suffer following a hike in National Insurance, the constituency MP warns.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget announcement raising employers’ national insurance contributions by 1.2 percentage points to 15 per cent from April 2025 means some GP surgeries in Dwyfor Meirionnydd cannot afford to fill key staff roles, according to MP Liz Saville Roberts.
Speaking during Wales Questions in the House of Commons, Mrs Saville Roberts specifically cited Treflan Surgery in Pwllheli, which now faces additional costs of £19,000 following measures introduced in the Budget. Mrs Saville Roberts said she has been contacted by several GP practices voicing similar about the impact of the rise in employer National Insurance contributions, announced by the Chancellor in her Budget on Thursday, 30 October.
The NHS and rest of the public sector are exempt from the tax rise - but that does not cover private care homes or hospices which provide NHS services, or GPs that function as businesses.
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Speaking in the House of Commons, Liz Saville Roberts MP said: “The British Medical Association in Wales says that GP funding has decreased as a percentage of the Welsh government’s budget by over 2.6 per cent since 2005.
“Treflan Surgery in Pwllheli in my constituency cannot afford to fill key staff roles.
“Budget measures will cost them an extra £19,000. The Secretary of State for Wales knows the state of the NHS in Wales, so why is she instrumental in Labour, at both ends of the M4, threatening GP surgeries?”
Mrs Saville Roberts added: “I have serious concerns about the impact of the increase in National Insurance employer contributions on some GP practices in my Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency, many of whom are already struggling due to historic chronic underfunding.
“This additional financial burden will heap further pressure on our primary care providers. Likewise, care homes are treated as private businesses like any other by the Treasury. “The increase in employer NI contributions will have far reaching repercussions across both health and social care settings, creating a perfect storm in which some GP practices have no choice but to cut back on services as they cannot afford to keep them running.
“GP practices are already struggling to afford to recruit the staff they need to meet patient demand, so any additional barrier to recruitment will further compromise the delivery of services. The UK government must urgently rethink this policy.”