Negligence in Yorkshire’s hospitals and clinics is costing the taxpayer more than £150 per minute, with a third of the money going to lawyers.
Botched treatments carried out across the region have left the NHS with an annual bill of more than £80m and facing a rising tide of compensation claims.
Health bodies received at least 1,281 claims or reports of clinical mistakes between April 2009 and March 2010, a 10 per cent increase in a year.
The soaring costs have prompted Ministers to draft new laws which would cut the legal bills the taxpayer must foot when the NHS loses a negligence case.
But there are fears the money-saving reforms will make it harder for injured patients to claim compensation and result in fewer mistakes coming to light.
Settling claims against health bodies in the region cost at least £80.4m in 2009-10 – a nine per cent rise on 2008-09, when the total bill came to at least £73.8m.
More than £54m of the sum was paid in damages, while at least £26m was spent on legal costs incurred by claimants and the public body which handles clinical negligence cases, the NHS Litigation Authority.
Figures published by the authority reveal that almost £10m was paid out after cases involving the Yorkshire and Humber Strategic Health Authority.
Payouts for claims against the region’s NHS trusts came to at least £68.4m, a 17 per cent increase on the previous year, led by Leeds (£10.2m), North Lincolnshire and Goole (£8.6m), Mid Yorkshire (£6.9m) and Sheffield (£6.8m).
Claims involving primary care trusts resulted in a total payout of at least £2m, more than half of which went to lawyers.
Payments relating to sub-standard care for pregnant women and babies accounted for more than a quarter of the overall bill.
Once a claim is settled, cash is paid by the litigation authority, which means it does not come out of a health body’s budget.
But bodies must make an annual contribution to the authority’s clinical negligence schemes, calculated by how many operations they carry out and how risky those operations are.
Contributions by the region’s trusts rose by 76 per cent between 2008-09 and 2009-10, up to £82.3m.
The Government has outlined proposed changes to the system, expected to come into force next year, which would prevent the litigation authority having to pay additional costs, such as lawyers’ success fees and claimants’ insurance premiums, when it loses a case.
Ministers have also considered withdrawing legal aid for most clinical negligence claims.
The chief executive of the charity Action against Medical Accidents, Peter Walsh, said he was “very concerned” by the proposals.
Mr Walsh said: “Whilst they might and probably would reduce the bill to the NHS, there is no getting away from the fact it would be at the expense of individuals who have been injured by negligence in the NHS.
“For a number of people it would remove the possibility of access to justice.
“The lawyers we are consulting with are telling us that, if all this goes through, they would anticipate taking on 50 per cent fewer cases.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “It is crucially important for victims of clinical negligence to have access to legal representation in order to claim compensation from those responsible, and people with valid cases will continue to be able to use Conditional Fee Agreements (CFA) – often referred to as ‘no win, no fee’ deals.
“The Government has proposed changes to CFAs so that they are fair for both claimants and defendants.”
source: yorkshirepost.co.uk
Yorkshire Claims
