MPs have urged the government to come up with a plan within the next six months to deal with ‘astronomical’ claimants costs of clinical negligence claims. The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee reported this month on health spending and one of its focuses was on the amounts paid out for clinical negligence.
The committee questioned why the government has taken so long to address the issue and said in particular that lawyers’ costs need to be dealt with as a priority.
Chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: ‘The fact that government has set aside tens of billions of pounds for clinical negligence payments, its second most costly liability after some of the world’s most complex nuclear decommissioning projects, should give our entire society pause.
‘This is a sign of a system struggling to do right by the people it is designed to help. It must be a priority of the highest order for government to reduce tragic incidences of patient harm, and lay out a mechanism to reduce legal fees to manage the jaw-dropping costs involved more effectively.’
The committee said it was ‘unacceptable’ that the Department of Health and Social Care has yet to develop a plan to deal with clinical negligence costs while so much taxpayers’ money is being spent on legal fees. It recommends that ministers put out a strategy with clear options to reduce patient harm and manage the costs of clinical negligence more effectively.
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In 2023/24, NHS Resolution, which administers claims for the government, paid out £2.8bn on negligence claims. Around £536m (19%) of that amount is taken up by claimant lawyers’ costs.
The committee was concerned during the last parliament that there appeared to be no effective plan to minimise future costs. In April last year, it recommended that, by summer 2024, ‘the department should set out the key reasons for patient harm and the actions it will take to address these, ensuring that its plans will reduce health disparities, ensure better patient outcomes, and reduce the costs for taxpayers’.
That was delayed by the election, and in September last year the new government pledged to commit in writing to set out a plan by the end of 2024. The PAC said ministers have still not set out specific actions being taken to reduce costs.
The government has yet to establish fixed recoverable costs for lower-value claims, which were introduced by the previous government but without the required legislation being passed in time. The Conservatives had discussed the possibility of moving to a no-fault compensation model, but it is understood the health department has said this could increase costs because it would be difficult to distinguish between those suffering as a result of negligence and those suffering as a result of an accident.
The Department of Health and Social Care says there is no evidence to suggest that rising clinical negligence costs are due to a decline in patient safety and that claim volumes have remained stable in recent years. The department believes they are likely to be rising because of a range of factors, including higher compensation payments and legal costs, rather than claim volume or patient safety.
A spokesperson added: ’The costs of clinical negligence claims have also more than doubled in the last decade. We will examine the drivers of costs, how to manage spending on clinical negligence and the potential merits of reform options.’
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