Over £1.1bn paid out by the NHS
Posted: July 20, 2015
Posted in: Medical Negligence NHS Claims
According to recently released figures, NHS England has paid out a total of £1.1billion to patients affected by medical negligence. The figures were released by the Medical Defense Union (MDU) in reaction to the publication of the NHS litigation authority’s (NHSLA) accounts for 2014/15, showing the figure paid out in legal claims on behalf of NHS Trusts in England. The MDU said that this scale of compensation payouts could not continue for much longer.
The MDU argued that this amount of compensation could have funded over eight million MRI scans, 61,000 liver transplants or 730,000 weight loss operations for patients suffering with obesity. Dr Michael Devlin, MDU head of professional standards and liaison, said: “The money paid is no reflection on clinical standards, which remain high, but it reflects the unsustainable cost of private sector health and social care packages.”
“legal reform cannot come soon enough”
Where the NHS has paid-out over one billion pounds in compensation, the NHSLA estimates that the money required to settle all clinical negligence claims is in fact 24 times this amount. The NHSLA has estimated liabilities of £28.3billion, a figure that has more than doubled since 2009.
The NHSLA believes that medical negligence compensation packages are becoming unaffordable for the NHS. A spokesperson said: “legal reform cannot come soon enough, especially when the health service faces such tremendous financial pressures.”
If you have been affected by medical negligence, and are looking to claim compensation, please contact us.
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