MEDICO LEGAL M A G A Z I N E
A PERFECT STORM – THE SPIRALLING COST OF CLAIMS By Dr Michael Devlin, MDU head of professional standards and liaison explains why the staggering rises we are seeing in the cost of compensation should provide a warning of a perfect storm ahead. When a patient receives a multi-million pound compensation claim, it often makes headlines. But few of us stop and think about the effect the rise in such claims is having on NHS finances. It is vital that we look at and understand how large the NHS liabilities are and what needs to be done to address the underlying rate of increase.
Clinical Negligence Claims Inflation Clinical negligence inflation is currently running at 10% and this has been the case for several years, with no indication that it is likely to decrease. This means total NHS liabilities will double in about seven years, if the current claims inflation rate remains steady. Given the NHS Litigation Authority’s (NHSLA’s) liabilities for clinical negligence claims, reported in July 2016, stood at £56 billion (bear in mind this is just the figure for England), you will probably be shocked that this figure could well be £112 billion by July 2023.
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To put it in some context, £56 billion would cover a year’s entire expenditure for all 153 NHS foundation trusts in England plus the total annual health spend in Wales. Now that we have a sense of scale, can we continue to ignore the problem? At this point let me put my cards on the table. I have worked for the MDU for nearly 20 years, and it will be no surprise to anyone that I care deeply about things like claims inflation. The MDU provides indemnity to GPs, doctors in independent practice and other healthcare professionals in return for a subscription. And the subscription they pay is largely determined by the cost of meeting claims. Bear in mind indemnity is not an optional extra for UK doctors. The General Medical Council has legal powers to check whether doctors have adequate and appropriate indemnity in place, covering their full scope of practice. The spiralling costs of litigation against GPs, for example, is placing an unsustainable burden
