Interest-rate swaps scandal

Funding cuts, contract changes and other effects of government changes to the NHS have already impacted surgeries’ bottom lines. This, along with uncertainty and near constant funding and regulation changes in the industry, means they have suffered disproportionately from the financial products; this is according to law firm Berg a specialist in the area.

As a result, many are being put under extreme financial pressure and some are being forced out of business, as they battle against large monthly payments or huge contract breakage fees.

As many as 100k businesses may have been mis-sold interest-rate swaps, which hedged against the risk of rising interest rates yet imposed massive charges when rates were lowered by the Bank of England following the recession in 2008.

Berg is currently advising more than 40 businesses on mis-sold swaps, of which about 10 per cent involve GPs and dentists.

Alison Loveday, managing partner at Berg, said: “Businesses of all types have been hit hard by the interest-rate swaps but GPs and dentists have really suffered. As we know, juggling patient care with running a profitable practice is difficult at the best of times.”