4 days Ago By Brendan McFadden
RIO DE JANEIRO – Sir Keir Starmer has refused to guarantee that GP surgeries and hospices will be protected from rising costs as a result of changes announced in the Budget. The Government has come under criticism over its decision to raise employers’ national insurance contributions, which GP and end of life care providers have warned could force them to cut services or even close. Declining to set the record straight after a series of mixed messages from ministers about financial help for health providers outside the NHS , the Prime Minister instead said Wes Streeting would set out funding arrangements at the end of the year.
Under the measures of the Budget, the NHS is spared having to pay the additional 1.2 percentage points on national insurance contributions, but private operators and charities, such as GP surgeries and hospices, will have to cover the costs. Concerns have also been voiced within the care sector over the decision to increase the minimum wage from £11.
44 to £12.21. Asked whether he could guarantee hospices and GP practices would be spared paying the additional tax, Starmer told reporters: “What the Health Secretary has said is that he’s going to set out funding arrangements later this year in relation to NHS contractors so he will do that.
Read Next Budget tax rise will be 'monumental' for GP surgeries, hospices and care homes “Obviously we had to take tough decisions in the Budget in order to stabilise the economy. We did that by making sure we didn’t hurt the pay packet of working people, so they don’t see that in their pay packet at the end of the month.” Pressed on whether this meant that care providers and GPs would avoid the extra burden, Starmer again declined to answer, stating: “Funding arrangements will be set out at the end of the year.
” Hospices and charities have said they face having to strip back end of life care or being forced to close as a result of the additional tax burden, while GPs’ leaders have said it could lead to a cut in appointments and even redundancies. Hospice UK said earlier this month that one in five of the UK’s 200 hospices are already been forced to make services cuts as a result of increased costs, and described the changes contained in the Budget as “potentially disastrous” for a sector already facing a £60m financial deficit. Last week, 60 MPs from across the political spectrum signed an open letter to Care Minister Stephen Kinnock to provide emergency funding for the charitable hospice sector.
Latest figures show that hospices provided palliative and end of life care to 300,000 people in 2022-23. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations who receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. On average, one third of their income comes from the government with the remaining two thirds raised by fundraising, which has been hit by the cost of living crisis.
Hospice leaders have urged the Government to alter its funding model and to use Nics to directly support end of life care as demand continues to grow each year..
