The ‘staggering sum’ being paid out by the NHS as compensation in clinical negligence claims is ‘unsustainable’, the Justice Secretary Niall Dickson has been warned
Compensation payments to victims of clinical negligence by the NHS should be slashed to prevent their ‘disastrous effect’ of bankrupting the health service, it was claimed last night.
In a letter to the Justice Secretary Niall Dickson, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation said the health service could not continue to support the current payments being handed to patients in compensation cases.
Officials from NHS Confederation, which represents all health trusts, the British Medical Association and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges wrote to David Gauke expressing their concerns over the current methods of calculating compensation.
Calling for ‘fundamental reform’ of the British legal system, they claimed that doctors were subjecting patients to needless tests because they were ‘frightened of being sued’.
While they said that those who have suffered medical blunders should receiving compensation payments, they believe the amount of money needs to be ‘balanced’ against the NHS’s ability to pay.
The development comes as some hospitals were revealed to be spending more than 2 per cent of their income on negligence claims.
Too much is being paid out in compensation claims against the NHS, medical groups have said
In the letter, published in the Telegraph, Mr Dickson wrote: ‘We fully accept that there must be reasonable compensation for patients harmed through clinical negligence.
‘Yet this must be balanced against society’s ability to pay. This is money that could be spent on frontline care: the rising cost of clinical negligence is already having an impact on what the NHS can provide.’
Negligence payments have rocketed in recent years. In 2014/15 the bill for liability claims stood at £29billion but has now doubled to £65billion.
The groups said that changes in the law have had a ‘disastrous effect’ on the amount paid out by the NHS in compensation claims.
A new way of calculating payments meant East Lancashire Hospitals was forced to increase its payout to a girl who was left with cerebral palsy following mistakes during her birth from £3.8million, to pay £9.3million
‘Individual claims can amount to well over £10million,’ Mr Dickson said. ‘And the value of these claims against the NHS is rising year after year.
‘It is because the current system, government policy (or lack of it) and the courts’ interpretation of their responsibilities have taken us to a terrible place.’
Mr Dickson pointed out that if the government spent every penny of the extra £5billion a year on the NHS – which is being called for by Boris Johnson – it would still take 13 years to cut off the liability bills.
The letter added that medical professionals had expressed concerns in a change over the way payments were calculated.
Under the new rules, East Lancashire Hospitals trust was forced to increase its payout to a 10-year-old girl who was left with cerebral palsy following mistakes during her birth.
The trust was initially due to pay £3.8million, but under the latest formula, were forced to pay £9.3million.
Changes are also being considered to cut to amount being spent on lawyers after it emerged that fees accounted for 37 per cent of payouts, with legal costs dwarfing the figure paid out in some minor cases.