Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough Tom Gordon this week (November 5) asked health secretary Wes Streeting to “invest in community pharmacies” during a House of Commons debate.
MPs voiced their concerns about the extra costs that the increase in employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) from April – which was announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves during the budget last week – will bring to pharmacies.
Read more: No deal! Pharmacy will not receive additional funding to cover NICs
Liberal Democrat MP for Thornbury and Yate Claire Young emphasised that pharmacists play a “vital role in preventative health” and detecting “serious problems early”.
“Yet because many are privately run businesses, they will be left footing a huge new tax bill,” she said.
“I am deeply concerned about the knock-on impacts of raising employer’s NICs on those parts of the system that are not in the public sector,” she told MPs.
Read more: IPA warns ‘wrecking ball’ budget will cost sector over £125m
And Conservative MP for Isle of Wight East Joe Robertson called on the government to U-turn on its decision around providing support for the employer NICs increase.
“The increase in employer’s NICs will cause great difficulty and hardship for GP practices, charities including hospices, dentists, pharmacies - which are crucial providers of health services - and social care providers,” he said.
“I urge the government to go back to the drawing board and provide for our GPs, dentistry, pharmacies, hospices and social care,” he added.
“They are scared”
Also speaking at the debate, Liberal Democrat spokesperson and MP for Chippenham Sarah Gibson said that last week’s budget was “supposed to be a breath of fresh air for primary care and for our health service”.
But instead, “pharmacists…feel taken for granted [and] let down, and they are scared,” she added.
Read more: Minimum wage to rise 6.7% as National Insurance hike confirmed
And shadow justice secretary Edward Argar highlighted the Independent Pharmacies Association’s (IPA) warning that “community pharmacies will have to find an extra £12,000 a year, on average, to pay for the hike”.
The IPA’s analysis revealed that the “overall cost” of the rise in employer NICs and national minimum wages together could total more than £125 million for the sector as a whole.
Read more: National Insurance rise would be ‘kick in the teeth’ for pharmacy, NPA warns
It comes as the Treasury this week revealed to C+D that independent contractors such as pharmacies and GPs will not receive additional funding from the government to cover the costs of the employer NICs increase.
The government did, however, say that “further details” on the allocation of funding from the £22 billion package for the NHS will be set out “in due course”.
