Health Minister Karin Smyth said employers understood the “real pressures” facing the healthcare sector as a result of increases in national insurance contributions and this was taken into account when allocating funding.

It was called for general practitioners, dentists, nursing homes and pharmacies to be exempt from the increase announced in the Prime Ministry Budget last month.

The British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee said the “draconian” increase would force GPs to make cuts that would “affect patient care”, while the National Association of Pharmacists said it was “pushing more pharmacies to the brink”.

During an urgent question on the issue, the Liberal Democrats described the increase as a “GP penalty” and the Conservatives called on the Government to “admit they got it wrong and make changes”.

The Minister told the House of Commons: “(The urgent question) gives me the opportunity to say to GPs, dentists, care homes and every part of the health and care system that will be affected by changes to employers’ national insurance contributions that this Government understands this point. they take seriously the pressures they face and they take their representation seriously.

“The Chancellor also took into account the impact of changes to national insurance when allocating an extra £26 billion to the Department of Health and Social Care.

“There are well-established processes for accepting funding allocations across the system, we are currently conducting those processes with this issue in mind.”

Labor MP Rachael Maskell (York Central) said the healthcare sector was “really concerned about the increasing cost pressures being put on these services”.

He added: “Will it ensure that there is adequacy in the trickle-down approach that the department will have to implement to maintain the current level of service and at the same time see the transition in healthcare that is urgently needed?”

Ms Smyth said: “The pressures are very real. We understand these pressures. That’s why we’re committed to supporting the NHS and social care system with this additional funding.”

Former Conservative minister Sir Edward Leigh said: “I implore the Minister to reconsider and exempt care homes and nursing homes.”

Ms Smyth replied: “We will continue discussions with all affected providers as normal.”

Shadow minister Dr., a former general practitioner. Luke Evans said: “Many in the health sector would have welcomed the announcement of additional funding for the NHS, but the joy was dashed by the realization that a corrupted manifesto promised not to increase national insurance contributions.

“This has been compounded by the discovery that a number of frontline care providers (care homes, nursing homes, care charities, pharmacies, GPs, to name but a few) have not found themselves exempt from NI increases, leaving them facing crippling staff bills and closures.” and the threat of dismissal.

“The hospice sector expects the cost to be £30 million, with closures and redundancies. The initial assessment for GPs could be £260 million, with closure redundancies and 2.2 million appointments costing.

“And for the care sector, the changes alone will cost £2.4bn, dwarfing the £600m announced by social care support. “So does he accept that council tax will inevitably have to rise to support the increase?”

Dr Evans called on the Government to “admit they were wrong and make changes”, adding that “the sense of anger among pharmacy owners has increased exponentially because of the Budget”.

Minister, Dr. He said he was “stunned” by Evans’ comments, adding: “He talks about happiness. We felt no joy when we inherited the mess they left in July.”

He added: “We will make the allocation of additional funds through the normal process, which will be faster than under his government because we are determined to give the sector much more certainty.”

In response to a written question from Conservative former minister Dr Caroline Johnson, defense secretary Al Carns confirmed the cost to the Ministry of Defense would be £216 million.

On Thursday, Liberal Democrat spokeswoman Alison Bennett said: “Does the Minister agree with me that faster appointments and stronger primary care with fewer people having to go to hospital is better for the NHS and patients, and if so, will he protect services and “Are you going to put pressure on the Chancellor to end this GP suspension?”

Ms Smyth replied: “We will be talking about next year’s allocations in the normal course over the next few months, with general practice under contract reforms.”

Conservative backbencher Sir Roger Gale (Herne Bay and Sandwich) said GPs and care homes now need answers on extra funding to help them cope with the rise in employers.

He said: “Dr Aleksandra Fox, from Ash Surgery in my constituency, is one of several GPs who have pointed out to me the damaging effects of an ill-considered Budget.

“Add to this charities such as Shooting Star Children’s Hospice and Demelza House Children’s Hospice, which are currently facing problems.

“They look forward to discussions through normal channels until this conspiracy is corrected. When will something be done about this please?”

Ms Smyth replied: “He says this is an ill-considered budget; I don’t know if he accepts the extra funding this Government has secured to give to the NHS after the disaster of the last 14 years.”