The increase in National Insurance contributions for employers
has added in the region of £140million to the Department of
Health's financial pressures this year.
That total includes some £100million in relation to directly
employed staff in Trusts and other statutory organisations in the
Health and Social Care system.
Health Minister has also agreed that funding
be made available to help support non-statutory providers of
health and social care in meeting their additional National
Insurance bills.
This package involves a projected £40million and includes social
care providers and hospices as well as family health service
providers (GPs, dentists, community pharmacies and opticians).
£3.5million has been earmarked for GPs for National
Insurance and detailed in the 2025/26 GP contract discussions.
However, the BMA has asked its GP members to reject the GP
contract on offer.
Of the other family health service providers, £4million has been
earmarked for community pharmacies, £2.5million for General
Dental Services and £1m for General Ophthalmic Services.
The Health Minister commented: “My three year plan for health and
social care includes stabilisation of services amid the current
severe financial pressures. Providing assistance with rising
National Insurance bills very much fits in with the stabilisation
objective.
“It is crucially important to support providers who have been hit
with additional costs for reasons entirely outside their control.
“I have therefore decided to take a financial hit rather than
leave health care providers to deal with the UK Government's hike
in National Insurance contributions by themselves. That would
have been deeply unfair and would have been detrimental to health
and social care provision.”
