Highland Hospice dealt major blow by Labour’s National Insurance hikes as MP Angus MacDonald warns care homes, pharmacies, GPs and dentists will also be hurt
A vital Highland charity providing end of life care to the terminally ill has revealed it will be disproportionately harmed by a massive increase in National Insurance.
The Highland Hospice says that due to the changes it will now have to pay an additional £171,000 a year – money that CEO Kenny Steele says will not now go on care and will have to be found elsewhere.
Local MP Angus MacDonald warns the impact of the changes will not end with just the hospice but it is likely “many care homes, pharmacies, doctors surgeries and dentist clinics” will also be affected.
The charity is well-known for its fundraising drives including major annual events like Strictly Inverness and Ness Factor which bring in hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.
But in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Autumn statement she hiked employer contributions by 1.2 per cent and lowered the threshold when employers start making payments.
Mr Steele explained that lowering the threshold for contributions from £9100 a year to £5000 was particularly damaging because of the high number of part-time staff.
He said that it has to be factored in that the changes affect not just the hospice’s main base in Inverness but also the 15 charity shops, an ebay shop, two cafes and a miniature railway in operation.
NHS Highland currently provides grant funding for about half the costs of the service but that still means additional funds of more than £8500 a day are needed.
Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire MP Mr MacDonald said: “The massive hike on salary costs as a result of Labours’ budget on Highland Hospice will be really damaging to their ability to look after those in palliative care in the Highlands.
“The same impact will be felt for many care homes, pharmacies, doctors surgeries and dentist clinics. I can only assume that Labour did not consider the implications.”
He added: “It is these very sectors of health care that are struggling the most in the Highlands.”
Mr Steel, confirming the numbers, said: “We may get some that recompensed through grants from NHS Highland but we certainly won’t get all of it – which is money we will now have to find elsewhere.”
He was clear that this would not impact the current level of service, so those with loved ones in the care of the hospice need not worry but it does mean that amid rising demand, expansion is no longer possible.
“We have a situation where we have a rising need for this kind of care,” he said. “It is growing all the time so it is a case of cutting back but of not growing rather than scaling back what we have now.”
The hospice is particularly vulnerable to the hikes by Rachel Reeves because around 60 per cent of its workforce are part time while the charity also runs shops with staff which adds another layer of expenses.
Mr Steele said: “With the hospice we run shops so of course we pay National Insurance to our staff who work there so it impacts us twice over. It also hits us badly because we have a higher than average number of part time staff.”
If you were to call for one major change, what would it be? He said: “My shout would be to have the costs of staff at delivering care for the NHS be compensated for the additional costs of National Insurance.
“We actually provide a service for NHS Highland, we get 50 per cent of our money from NHS Highland while we raise the rest of our funding elsewhere. We are actually saving the health board money and bed spaces.”
