NHS Litigation Authority Releases Annual Report on Clinical Negligence Claims
August 06, 2010
Posted by:Suzanne Trask
The NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) released its annual report this weeks, highlighting the increase in the amount of legal fees it has had to pay. Various reports on this in the media would make you believe that the cause of these higher legal fees was simply down to profiteering lawyers. However, I would suggest that the NHSLA should spend less of their resources criticising those who represented patients, and more time focusing on increasing the standard of treatment in the areas of medical practice with the highest incidence of successful claims. For example, obstetrics leads to the majority of the largest payments in both compensation and legal fees, given the devastating consequences on a baby of negligence during their birth, leading to life-long disability requiring significant levels of care. This is a tragedy for all involved, and to suggest that those who properly represent their interests through what can be a long and protracted claim for compensation should be criticised for carrying out that work, is doing nothing less than missing the point.
The NHSLA centre their argument on the amount of legal costs that they have to pay. Claimant solicitors who deal with clinical negligence claims every day know the reasons for these costs. A factor that will not change is that these claims are expensive because they are about the standard of medical care provided, requiring a large amount of evidence from expert doctors to provide evidence. However, very often Claimants are forced into pushing foward with stressful and long claims that can last for many years, as Defendants are slow to admit liability in cases that were capable of settlement at an earlier stage. They can be slow to investigate the merits of a claim with expert medical evidence, with the false economy of saving a few hundred pounds earlier, but becoming liable for thousands more as a case drags on that could have been finalised sooner.
I believe that there is a worrying focus on reducing litigation, and its necessary high financial costs, when attention should really be centred on increasing the quality of care. Again, the NHSLA seem to be simply focusing on its annual spend, and trying to campaign for a reduction of the cost of its mistakes, rather than deal with reducing the problem. Unfortunately, this is a reflection of the NHS's reactive rather than preventative approach.