GPs are calling on the government to protect them from tax rises for employers announced at the Budget, warning it could hit services for patients.The NHS and rest of the public sector are due to be shielded from a hike in National Insurance (NI) contributions from April next year.But GP practices, which deliver NHS services but are mostly run as small businesses, are currently due to be hit by the rise.The health department says further information for GPs will be announced in due course, although it is yet to offer details.Private companies that deliver social care services have also warned about the impact of the NI hike, as well as a scheduled 6.7% rise to the minimum wage.From next April, employers will have to pay NI at 15% on salaries above £5,000, instead of 13.8% on salaries above £9,100 currently. The Institute of General Practice Management, which represents GP practice managers, has estimated that the rise will put up the tax bill of the average surgery by around £20,000 a year. Speaking earlier, Treasury minister Darren Jones said changes to the Employment Allowance – which allows some businesses to offset their NI bill – would shield smaller GP surgeries from the tax rise.But professional associations have cast doubt on this claim, pointing out that businesses that do most of their work in the public sector are not eligible.The Royal College of GPs has written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, calling for GP surgeries to be protected from the rise by receiving the “necessary funding to cover these additional costs”.Its chai …
