Employers National Insurance increase is detrimental to patients
When announcing their autumn budget, Labour pitched their fiscal plans as investing in our NHS. Whilst the announcement of increased funding is something that I welcome, it feels like the government has robbed Peter to pay Paul.
I fear they have overlooked the disastrous implications of raising Employers’ National Insurance Contributions on wider healthcare provision. Our healthcare system is already over-stretched, and these tax rises could push it to the breaking point.
In my constituency of Woking, our vital community hospital is run by an NHS community healthcare partner, Central Surrey Health (CSH). They also deliver health services in my community. They are not-for-profit and employee owned; Labour’s autumn budget will cost them a staggering £500,000 per year.
Communities across the country that, like Woking, rely on community healthcare partners for the majority of their healthcare provision could see their access to care reduced as a result of this budget.
Many of these vitally important partners are already struggling. They will be left with no choice but to cut staff and services should the government pursue this poorly prepared policy.
Woking doesn’t have its own major hospital, we rely on the major facilities in neighbouring towns for services that cannot be provided by our community hospital. The NHS trusts that run them are also under massive pressure.
To put in perspective, Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the closest major hospital provider to Woking, faces an eye-watering figure of £82,168,226 to eradicate their repair backlog.
Should they have to shoulder the burden of providing additional services in the wake of a reduction in provision from community healthcare partners, such as CSH, this astronomical sum would only get worse.
Ultimately, it’s patients who will pay the price.
It’s not just community healthcare providers who will be affected...
It will also have a devastating effect on GPs, along with social and small care providers’ ability to deliver top-quality services to residents in Woking and beyond. I am relieved to hear that the government is looking at ways to compensate them, but, as per usual, this does not go far enough.
GPs surgeries are already oversubscribed and the waiting times for appointments are huge across most of the country. We simply cannot afford to worsen the situation because of avoidable decisions made by the government.
On top of this, the Health Minister has already accepted that the lack of social care provision is costing the NHS £1.7 billion a year. Prevention is better than a cure; it is a far more efficient use of our money to invest in social care than to spend higher quantities of money on treatment once patients reach the point where they need primary or hospital care.
The former Conservative Government spent years underfunding social care, but this Chancellor has a real opportunity to avoid repeating these mistakes. I want to make sure that the government delivers proper, long-term investment.
This will not only increase the quality of services available and relieve pressure on our NHS, but it will also help relieve the immense financial pressure on local authorities, enabling them to invest in more of the services we want.
This is especially important because six in ten of the UK’s care home beds are operated by companies that could go bankrupt if they experience even a ‘mild economic shock.’ The NHS simply cannot afford to pick up the slack if these companies go under.
On Tuesday 5th November, I spoke in the House of Commons, to call on the government to urgently rethink these proposals and exempt social care providers, GPs and health partners from this misguided tax hike.
We have a real opportunity to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, which is why this is something that the Liberal Democrats and I will continue to fight for in weeks and months ahead.
Will Forster MP is the Liberal Democrat MP for Woking, and has been an MP continually since 4 July 2024.
