GPs are already taking part in “work to govern” protests against their current contract, which increased funding for this year by 7.4 per cent, including 6 per cent for GP pay.

Under the changes, employer contributions will increase by 1.2 percentage points to 15 percent starting in April. Businesses will also have to start paying staff who earn more than £5,000 a year, instead of £9,100.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, president of the Royal College of GPs (RCGP), contacted Wes Streeting and asked for “urgent assurances that GP surgeries will receive the same protection as the rest of the NHS and public sector and “They will receive the necessary funding to cover these additional costs.”

She said: “We have very serious concerns about the impact of increasing employer national insurance contributions on GP surgeries across the country, many of whom are already struggling to keep their doors open and reach end of the month due to a historic chronic lack of financing.

“For some, this additional financial burden “It will be the last straw, forcing them to make difficult decisions about layoffs or even closing their practice, and ultimately it will be our patients who will bear the brunt.”