Calling on the Labour Welsh Government to soften the blow on primary care services through the UK Budget’s employer national insurance rise, Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister, Sam Rowlands MS said:
“Rachel Reeves’ national insurance tax rise will devastate the Welsh NHS by hitting the very front door of the health service, our GPs.
“The Labour Welsh Government’s failure to invest in and support our primary care services has led to 100 GP closures in the last twelve years. If they don’t soften this blow, we will see many more close.”
Responding similarly to the effects on social care services, as private care providers and hospices face increased employer NI bills, Dr Altaf Hussain MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Social Care said:
“Labour’s obsession with driving the private sector out of social care will harm the sick and vulnerable. Encompassing hospices in this tax rise is deeply cruel.
“If Labour continues to pile financial burdens onto care homes, then we will see no end to the handover delays that have contributed to the seven consecutive record-breaking months of Welsh NHS waiting list increases.”
