A litigious culture: The NHS sets aside £26bn for medical negligence claims

Over recent decades, compensation claims have rapidly grown in all spheres of public and private life. One particularly fast growing area for compensation claims has been the medical and healthcare sector, with doctors, nurses and other medical staff having to be increasing vigilant against the possibility of a law suit against them or their employer.

According to The Telegraph, compensation claims made against the NHS increased by more than 20% between 2012 and 2013. In July of 2013, the newspaper revealed that £22.7 billion of the health service’s annual budget had been earmarked to pay for compensation claims against it, and said that, “English damages [are] now among the highest in the world.” These figures were made all the more significant by the fact that they marked an increase of approximately 80% since 2008.

Now, the Telegraph has revealed that the portion of the NHS budget set aside for legal action against it has increased again. According to the newspaper, the NHS Litigation Authority has set aside £26.1bn to cover claims for damages against it that are currently ongoing or are predicted in the future. This amounts to almost a quarter of the NHS’ £113bn a year budget. The Telegraph goes on to say that £1.3bn was spent by the health service on medical negligence claims last year.

In February, then Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt unveiled plans to fine hospitals up to £100,000, if they are found to have been dishonest about medical mistakes that have taken place. Mr Hunt told the Telegraph that, “Being open and learning from mistakes is crucial in improving patient care. The NHS is a world class health service, but when mistakes happen it is vital that we face them head on and learn so that they are never repeated… this sends a strong message that covering up mistakes will not be tolerated.”

Medical negligence insurance

According to the Centre for Health and the Public Interest (CHPI), the NHS ‘self insures’ itself against medical negligence claims, with underwriting for compensation claims being covered by the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts, which is funded by the tax payer.

Often medical negligence claims made against private hospitals and healthcare services working for the NHS are also covered under this scheme. This is in part due to the fact that private insurance firms are reluctant to insure in these situations, according to the CHPI, following far-reaching high-profile care scandals and subsequent compensation claims, like the Mid Staffs hospital scandal.

Private healthcare firms operating under their own banner meanwhile are able to insure themselves against such risks by taking out adequate medical negligence insurance cover. Such policies are designed to protect the hospital, its medical staff and other stakeholders against the potentially substantial costs of claims made after errors in surgery, clinical care or diagnosis.

Doctors and other medical staff are however only usually covered during the time that they are at work. In the event that they are called upon to act in a medical emergency at other times, such as if someone has heart attack in a restaurant or if they are by chance first on the scene of a road traffic accident, they would not be covered against the possibility of a compensation claim made against them if something went wrong.

Such situations can be protected against though, if the medical worker obtains their own medical negligence insurance which covers them for so-called ‘good Samaritan acts’.

If you have any questions or would like a quote for any of the types of medical negligence insurance discussed here, don’t hesitate to contact Park Insurance.