2024 Budget Implications

The implications of the rise in the minimum wage (and knock on impact for staff paid above this rate) plus the rise in employers’ National Insurance contributions were key points discussed at the November LMC meeting. The impact on individual practices was considerable with members reporting estimated additional costs of £50-60,000 pa for some practices. This was on top of the recent underfunded 6% pay awards which many practices had struggled to fund. The resulting actions included not replacing GPs, leaving the practice and staff redundancies.

The BMA has issued a NI calculator for BMA members to calculate the impact on their practices which you can access here. https://www.bma.org.uk/BudgetNIblow

All practices are urged to consider writing to their local MPs. One or two members noted a lack of interest from their MPs when they had recently contacted them.