Britain now spends more on medical legal claims per head of population than the US, a report reveals.
Amid a rise in ‘no win, no fee’ claims, the NHS spent £1.6billion on medical negligence claims last year – or £24 per person.
This is more than twice the per capita total in the US, despite its reputation as a litigious society.
Britain now spends more on medical legal claims per head of population than the US, a report reveals (Stock photo)
Dr Paul Goldsmith, a consultant neurologist, warned that the bill is draining hospitals of much-needed funds and driving GPs out of practice. He demanded changes in the law to help cut the claims.
He wants an end to the rule where people receive huge amounts in compensation to pay for private medical care, even if they end up using the NHS, which is free. And families should have to hand money back if the victim’s situation improves, or they die earlier than expected, he said.
The NHS pays out hundreds of millions every year following mistakes such as blunders on maternity wards. For example, if a new-born is starved of oxygen it can end up brain damaged, needing life-long care.
Avoidable mistakes happen in surgery. Three times a week, the NHS operates on the incorrect part of a patient, such as amputating the wrong leg.
Dr Goldsmith’s report for the Centre for Policy Studies comes amid growing calls for a crackdown on ambulance-chasing lawyers, who milk the NHS by charging sky-high fees. It will also cement demands for the NHS to clamp down on mistakes. The National Audit Office reported last month that NHS Resolution, the quango handling clinical negligence, spent £1.6billion on claims in 2016/17.
Dr Goldsmith said this works out at £24 a head – compared with £9 per person in the US. The NHS has set aside £65billion to pay the costs of existing and potential future clinical negligence claims.
This is an estimate by Government actuaries based on current trends on how many mistakes are happening, and other factors such as demography, inflation and the cost of drugs. Dr Goldsmith said: ‘The current system is expensive, unsustainable and can cause more harm than good.
‘It is one of the Government’s greatest liabilities. The cost of claims is increasing rapidly (by roughly 10 per cent a year) and is set to increase even faster.’
In his report, Dr Goldsmith blamed the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948 for not reflecting modern realities.
It requires the body or individual paying compensation to disregard the availability of NHS care. This means the financial award reflects the assumption it will be used only for private health care. If the claimant uses free NHS care, they still retain the money.
Dr Goldsmith said loss of earnings should be fixed at the level of the National Living Wage or a multiple of salary.
And he criticised the lack of reappraisal which means that if a patient improves, or dies, the payout stays with the patient or their family.