DOCTORS’ leaders warned today that GP waiting times in Wales will get worse as a result of the Westminster government’s decision to increase employer contributions to National Insurance (NI).

Dr Rowena Christmas of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Wales said Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget hike to NI contributions was catastrophic, telling the BBC: “It’s hard to be so pessimistic, but this is such a catastrophic situation we suddenly find ourselves in.”

The GP leader said the new tax rate would cost her practice £20,000 a year, with larger practices facing additional costs of up to £90,000.

Although the Westminster government had provided funding in England, the amount of money given to the Welsh government under the Barnett formula left Wales with a significant shortfall.

Other NHS services were exempt from the NI increase, but not GP practices because they operate as private businesses.

GP practices will now have to pay NI at 15 per cent on salaries above £5,000, instead of 13.8 per cent on salaries above £9,100.