Medical negligence claims against GPs increase by almost 20%
May 23, 2011
Posted by:Suzanne Trask
The number of claims notified to the Medical Defence Union (MDU), which insures more than half of UK GPs, rose a fifth in 2010 compared with the previous year.
Claims across all specialties have risen, according to the MDU, but the biggest rise has been in general practice.
GPs are most often accused of delayed or wrong diagnosis (60% of claims), followed by failure to refer patients (15%) and medication errors (10%).
The number of high value claims against GPs also rose, with 13 claims assessed at over £1 million in 2010. In 1995, there was just one GP case where the MDU paid compensation of more than £1 million.
The MDU said recent claims include £4.5 million to a child damaged by meningitis who required full time supervision, £3.5 million to a young man with a brain injury following premature delivery and £3.8m to a woman following a brain haemorrhage.
Many claims followed complaints or reports of adverse incidents in previous years. Only around 30% of all claims result in settlement, rising to about 50% of high value claims, it said.
The cause of the increase in the number of claims is unclear, but may be as a result of greater awareness of an ability to make a claim and access to appropriate funding methods. If this is the case, the increase has to be positive, as it indicates greater access to justice for those entitled to compensation.