NHS Decision (NHSR), the physique which take care of authorized claims in opposition to the NHS, has simply revealed its annual report setting out the volumes of claims which were resolved inside the previous 12 months and it makes for very attention-grabbing studying.
It confirms that claims for medical negligence are persevering with to rise with a excessive proportion of pay-outs regarding issues with maternity care. Right here, I take a look at a number of the key factors from the report which additionally offers with future technique and obvious traits.
Whereas there was a small improve in declare numbers (with 13,784 notified beneath medical schemes), the overwhelming majority of medical issues (81 per cent) that have been resolved didn’t require Court docket proceedings to be began. That is extraordinarily optimistic for claimants and medical professionals alike, avoiding the challenges and stress that may comply with from the Court docket course of. It’s proof of a extra collaborative method between NHSR and claimant attorneys that has been creating in latest occasions. The report states that NHSR will ‘all the time proceed to advertise dispute decision over litigation’.
Fifty claims really reached trial, a discount from 60 the earlier 12 months. Seventeen of the circumstances resulted in an award of damages. Clearly taking circumstances to trial stays dangerous and as seen in earlier years, if a claimant reaches trial they typically have a one in three likelihood of success. The low success price for claimants at this stage in litigation signifies that solely essentially the most closely disputed circumstances go to trial. It stays the case that lower than 0.4% of all medical negligence circumstances go to trial.
The highest 4 classes of medical negligence claims contained no nice surprises. These have been; emergency drugs, obstetrics, orthopaedic surgical procedure and basic surgical procedure.
6,573 claims have been concluded with no fee of damages in any respect – indicating the problem of assembly the required requirements to achieve most of these circumstances.
Maternity claims
The group right here at Kingsley Napley have been writing recurrently concerning the challenges going through UK obstetric and maternity care. (Our full medical negligence blogs can be found right here). NHSR’s report revealed that obstetric claims accounted for less than 13 p.c of the quantity of medical claims (topic to an exclusion of GP claims). Nevertheless, these circumstances made up a staggering 57 per cent of the general worth of claims. Start harm circumstances will be each legally and medically advanced, for instance involving arguments concerning the affect of oxygen deprivation on a child’s mind. Such claims can take a few years to finish, not least as a result of they typically can’t be resolved with out ready to see how a toddler develops in an effort to assess their lifelong wants.
NHSR’s report displays on their Early Notification Scheme (ENS) which proactively investigates particular mind accidents to find out whether or not negligence has precipitated hurt and is designed to hurry up investigations. The report states that the scheme is efficiently reaching a discount within the time between an incident occurring and an admission of legal responsibility being made. I might stress that it stays important, in my opinion, for the households of affected kids inside the ENS scheme to acquire their very own specialist authorized recommendation in an effort to navigate the complexities and guarantee the very best outcomes. Extra data is offered on our ENS webpage.
The report concludes that security in maternity stays a ‘key focus’ going forwards.
GP claims
Claims ensuing from Common Observe incidents after 1 April 2019 elevated by some 9 per cent. Whereas we shouldn’t have a breakdown when it comes to the varieties of circumstances being introduced, the Kingsley Napley group have beforehand highlighted the challenges and considerations in relation to GP care within the new period of elevated on-line and phone consultations.
Low cost price
The general funds made in relation to the decision of medical claims in 2023 – 2024 amounted to £2,821.2 million.
The Ministry of Justice is at present reviewing the low cost price, which is the speed utilized to quantities of compensation for future losses, permitting a price to be placed on these sums in at this time’s phrases. This can be a recognition of the change in worth of cash over time and accounts for the curiosity that may be earned on sums invested. The low cost price is at present set at -0.25 per cent however is predicted to extend. In flip, that is prone to lower the general sums paid out by NHSR though the total affect of the anticipated change after all stays to be seen.
If you’re in search of recommendation a couple of declare for medical negligence, please contact Kingsley Napley’s specialist group for a no obligation dialogue.
Additional data
You probably have any questions, please contact James Bell in our Medical Negligence and Private Damage group.
In regards to the writer
James Bell is the pinnacle of our Medical Negligence and Private Damage apply and joined the agency in 2023 from Hodge, Jones & Allen. He has undertaken medical negligence and private harm circumstances for over 30 years.
