Negligence claims costs NHS £1.4bn

Analysis by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) has revealed that NHS trusts in England paid over £1.4 billion in medical negligence claims in 2015, a significant rise from £583 million in 2008.

The Authority cited the increase was due to an increase in claims and legal costs from claimants.

Nonetheless, lawyers have countered that the costs would not exist if the NHS had not been negligent.

Neil Sugarman, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (Apil), said: "The cost to the NHS of its negligence should come as no surprise, in view of almost daily publicity about poor treatment and avoidable harm."

"This includes the NHSLA accepting failures when they happen and reducing costly delays in settling claims.

"It takes a lot of work to prove a claim against a Goliath organisation like the NHS, which holds all the cards and information about the incident, so delays and unnecessary denials are unhelpful and costly.

"The NHSLA is its own worst enemy for pushing up costs against itself by dragging out claims and defending cases needlessly, only then to settle at the door of the court."

Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust was among the trusts paying the highest fees for negligence costs, paying £981,000 in 2015.

Helen Vernon, chief executive of the NHSLA, said: "The key to reducing the growing costs of claims is learning from what goes wrong and supporting changes to prevent harm in the first place.

"We want to reduce the need for expensive litigation.

"This means increasing the use of mediation in the NHS, early transparency, saying 'sorry' and demonstrating that lessons have been learned to prevent the incident happening again."

A spokesman for Department of Health said: "Safe, compassionate care is our upmost priority".

"That's why we are working with the NHS Litigation Authority, the wider NHS and others to improve safety, reduce clinical negligence costs and save money which would be better spent on patient care.”