Labour Must Change Direction After Stark Warning from Care Forum Wales

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have reiterated their calls for Labour to exempt health and social care providers from the National Insurance tax rise following a stark warning from Care Forum Wales which stated the measure contained in Labour’s budget could cause a collapse in the social care system in Wales.

According to the CFW, the controversial measures announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves pose a “greater threat than Covid” to the sector with a £150 million funding hole to plug needing to be plugged as a result of the changes announced.

The CFW highlight the 1.2% rise in Employer National Insurance contributions and a cut to the Secondary Threshold to £5,000 as two of the primary pressures being placed on care providers thanks to the changes being implemented by Labour.

In Wales, the majority of adult social care providers are private, with 72% of the over 2,000 sites in the sector run by private service providers. 

Since the announcement of the budget, the Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to exempt all health and social care providers from the national insurance rise. The party has pointed out that the rise will hit GPs, pharmacists, dentists as well as care providers. It will also impact charities working in the healthcare setting such as palliative care providers and the air ambulance.

The Liberal Democrats have warned that the rise will add even more stress to sectors already experiencing high demand, especially in the case of social care, which they have stated is key to reducing bed blocking at hospitals and the related delays in ambulance response times.

Commenting, Welsh Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader David Chadwick MP said:

“This is yet more evidence that Labour is taking us down completely the wrong path when it comes to solving the social care crisis in Wales.

“Increasing National Insurance tax on health care and social care providers is in direct contradiction with the aim to improve health outcomes across Wales.

“We are not going to get waiting lists and ambulance waiting times down if we do not have the beds in social care to discharge patients to and that isn’t going to happen if Labour risk collapsing of destabilising the entire care sector.

“The Liberal Democrats have been calling on Labour to scrap this awful policy from day one and we will continue to push the Government to do the right thing and protect our healthcare providers from unnecessary financial pressure.”

ENDS