Healthcare services 'at risk of collapse' from National Insurance rise without government intervention

Family practitioners in Northern Ireland have warned that primary care services are at risk of collapse without government intervention.

Community pharmacists, GPs, dentists and optometrists say they must be protected from the UK Government National Insurance Contribution increases to continue delivering primary care services in the communities they serve.

That's the message from the four bodies representing Family Practitioner Services in Northern Ireland in a joint letter to Stormont's Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt.

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NHS medical, pharmacy, dental and optometry providers have called on the Northern Ireland Executive to make the case to the UK Government for the protection of these vital services from increases in National Insurance contributions laid out in the autumn Budget, which they say risk the collapse of primary care in Northern Ireland.

Many of these providers, commissioned to deliver NHS primary care services in Northern Ireland on behalf of the Department of Health, operate as small businesses and are subject to this UK Government policy change.

An increase in employer NI contributions from 13.8% to 15% on a workers' earnings above £175 from next spring was announced in the 31st October Budget. A reduction in the threshold when NI contributions must be paid, from £9,100 to £5,000, was also outlined.

In a joint statement Community Pharmacy NI, the British Medical Association (NI), British Dental Association and Optometry NI said: “Medical, pharmacy, dental and optometry providers are the front door to the health service for families across Northern Ireland and vital for the transformation of care.

“Yet these services are under extreme financial pressure, resulting in the closure of general practices and community pharmacies, the most rapid shrinkage of NHS Dentistry anywhere in the UK and reduced access to NHS optometry.

"Without adequate protection from UK Government policy changes, the precarious position of Family Practitioner Services in Northern Ireland will deteriorate further.

“It is now an urgent imperative for the Northern Ireland Executive to make the case to the UK Government for the protection of primary care, or risk the collapse of these vital services in communities across Northern Ireland.”

The Department of Health has been approached for a response.

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