The impact of COVID-19 on the healthcare sector

Category: COVID-19Healthcare - Posted On: Mar 20 2020


The ever-evolving situation with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is causing significant disruption around the world and although the UK has not been significantly affected, we fully expect this to change.

We are aware that the healthcare sector are facing sector specific issues, including:

Dentists

New measures outlined by the Chief Dental Officer will have a significant impact on the range of treatments being carried out in dental practices, which will impact the level of income being received.

Children’s nurseries

First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon announced that all Scottish schools and children’s nurseries will close from Friday 20 March. However, be assured that local authorities will pay the Pupil Premium funding in April 2020 to cover the period from April to June 2020.

It was also announced by Deputy First Minister, John Swinney that although most nurseries will close, not all will. He is advising private and third sector providers remain open as long as they solely support the children of key workers. He assured the Scottish Government will continue funding schemes to early learning providers to deliver statutory hours.

For nurseries who do have to close their doors, please contact your insurance broker to find out if your policy will provide cover under the circumstances.

GP practices

There are a number of GP practices closed over the country due to the spread of infection and the NHS Trusts are encouraging patients not to attend the practices for appointments in person, but instead telephone or skype the practice. GP practices, although at the forefront, are a business and as such still have to consider the impact on their financial performance.

Although those involved in healthcare will have their own specific concerns, from a business point of view, we have detailed some points to consider in the planning stages over the next few days and weeks:

  • Request a payment holiday from landlords
  • Apply for payment holidays from lenders
  • Agree payment plans with HMRC for any up and coming liabilities, including PAYE/NI, VAT, income tax
  • Review insurance documents
  • Operate with skeleton staff

The Scottish Government have announced support worth £2.2bn for businesses, as detailed in our article here. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide more detail when it becomes available.

In the meantime, please contact our EQ Healthcare specialists if you have any questions or to discuss your own circumstances by calling one of our offices or by emailing healthcare@eqaccountants.co.uk.