The NHS is at serious financial risk due to the enormous costs of medical negligence compensation claim payouts, according to the largest insurer of the NHS.
Without a change in the law, Christine Tomkins, who is the head of the Medical Defence Union (MDU), fears that the NHS may become unsustainable. The MDU which indemnifies thousands of medical professionals has claimed that 12 large educational hospitals could be run each year for by the £18 billion that the NHS currently pays out as a result of legal challenges. As life expectancy improves and more advanced methods of treatment and care are found, the NHS faces very low marginal returns on investments, and the size of compensation payouts is constantly rising. Ms Tomkins has called for the value of these settlements to be slashed in order to protect the NHS from potential bankruptcy. However, lawyers have argued that this would prevent injured victims of medical negligence from receiving the compensation they deserve.
At the centre of the controversy is a 1948 Act relating to personal injuries, which established that NHS Compensation Claim payouts include the future cost of private medical care. Ms Tomkins argues that because the 1948 Act predated the introduction of the NHS, future care should in fact now be based on NHS treatment, not expensive private medical costs. This act was analysed by the Department of Constitutional Affairs in 2007, however no agreement was reached on whether or not to repeal the law.
One area of particular concern is maternity care. There were over 5000 successful compensation claims made relating to pregnancy or childbirth in the last 10 years, costing the NHS billions. It is hoped that by employing highly qualified consultants and doctors around the clock, fewer incidents will occur; meaning that despite the higher cost of wages, fewer negligence claims will need to be settled.
Of course, in considering this information you need to realise that it’s strongly in the insurer’s own financial interests that compensation payouts are kept to a minimum. Given the recent spate of scandals relelating to medical negligence and for poor levels of patient care in general, perhaps the NHS should concentrate more on getting their own house in order, rather than whingeing at the lawyers who are simply helping people to the compensation they deserve for medical errors.
Strict time limitation periods apply to medical negligence compensation claims – plus it’s always much easier to investigate your case if you get prompt legal advice, while the circumstances of your case remain fresh in your mind.
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