Costs of Clinical Negligence Claims Criticized by Minister

Last month the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, during a visit to a children’s hospital in Birmingham, described the expenditure on clinical negligence claims as being one of the ‘shocking costs’ of poor care.There is a tendency for the tabloid press to use headline grabbing figures to criticise injured victims for the claims brought against a hospital or doctor however only 1% of the NHS budget is in fact spent on claims. Whilst a modest figure, it still represents many tens of millions which could be better spent on patient care and I know not of one client who wouldn’t rather have their life back to what it was rather than claim compensation for injuries suffered which have often rendered them unable to work or dependent on the care of others.

More needs to be done to stop these avoidable, often life changing, medical errors. There is however much work to be done and it is saddening to see a report published recently by the Care Quality Commission which  found 80% of NHS bodies inspected were rated ‘inadequate’ or ‘require improvement’ when it comes to patient safety. We are all right to be proud of the NHS, which is undoubtedly one of the best healthcare systems in the world, but much more needs to be done, and quickly, to avoid this worrying slide in patient care and the inevitable harm it causes to many patients.

By Sara Westwood at sarawestwood@m-j-p.co.uk