NHS pay-outs set to increase
Sep 24 2008 by Liz Hands, The Journal
THE region’s NHS is facing even bigger clinical negligence bills in the wake of rising legal costs and compensation payouts.
Bosses at the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA), the body which deals with claims made to hospitals, are expected to increase fees for trusts next year.
The move comes after The Journal revealed how lawyers representing patients and families in clinical negligence claims pocketed £6m in North East NHS cash last year.
Details of the scale of the increase hospitals in the region are facing under the NHSLA’s Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) are likely to be revealed in November.
Hospital trusts pay a lump sum each year into the scheme, which then deals with claims on their behalf.
A hospital trust’s size and the complexity of the treatments it provides will determine how much it pays into the pot.
The increase in fees is being mooted as the NHSLA absorbs a double whammy to its finances. Figures from its annual report show that the fees charged by solicitors representing claimants nationally have risen 122% in four years and now top £90m.
The authority’s legal bill rose by 48% to £43.3m over the same period.
Meanwhile, the amount paid out in damages has risen by more than 10% since 2005/06 and last year topped £660m.
Regionally, the NHS paid out £22.4m in damages for failings in care last financial year – with lawyers’ costs making up 27% of the figure.
Hospitals were ordered to pay £29m the previous year but legal fees were nearly £1m lower despite the fact that in 2006/07 the number of cases dealt with was 380 compared with 267 during 2007/08.
Yesterday Steve Reed, trust secretary at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the city’s Freeman, Royal Victoria Infirmary and General hospitals said he was expecting costs to keep on rising.
“Unfortunately, the trend year on year has been upwards,” he said. There’s also a backlog in the system that has to be paid for. That’s because these cases can drag on for years so there is an inevitability that premiums go up.
“We are working with the NHSLA to try to find a way to streamline the system and reduce costs.”
Stephen Walker, NHSLA chief executive, has blamed increased lawyers’ fees on Conditional Fee Arrangements, commonly known as no-win, no-fee.
He said: “Solicitors now have the ability to get up to double their normal hourly rate if they are successful. That has a double impact on us because it means they are being more careful about selecting cases they are confident of winning.”
