€3,078,490,039
That’s how much the State has paid out in medical negligence claims since 2010 – more than the new children’s hospital debacle!
MEDICAL negligence litigation since 2010 has cost the State more than the National Children’s Hospital debacle, questions from Independent TD Carol Nolan show.
The annual cost of medical negligence has exploded from €74million in 2010 to almost €360million in 2022.
It fell slightly last year from €359,608,434 in 2022 to €352,360,476, but figures up to mid-February of €37,635,973, indicate costs are rising again.
The Government is concerned that if the current trend continues, ‘the cost of negligence could rise to half a billion a year’.
The full cost of claims from 2010 has now breached €3billion, with the bill from 2010 to February of this year totalling a ‘staggering’ €3,078,490,039.
Ms Nolan said: ‘These are staggering sums of money. Effectively
‘Something is profoundly broken’
what we are talking about here are legal costs that could have covered the entire National Children’s Hospital debacle and several National Cancer Strategy programmes.
‘Legal fees and costs heading toward half a billion for this year alone should be raising alarm bells everywhere in Government, not just in the HSE and the Department of Health. Clearly something is profoundly broken here.’
The figures emerged after Ms Nolan asked Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to provide ‘the total cost of defending medical negligence litigation against the HSE and Department of Health in each year from 2010 to date, including awards made in the courts or settlements made out of court to resolve disputes’.
Responding, Mr Donnelly said: ‘The State Claims Agency (SCA) has a statutory remit to manage personal injury claims on behalf of Delegated State Authorities including the Health Service Executive. I have been informed by the SCA that this information has been extracted from the National Incident Management System (NIMS).
‘The figures relate to payments made in Healthcare under the Clinical Indemnity Scheme and the report is correct as of 19/02/2024.’
Responding to queries, the Private Hospitals Association of Ireland (PHA) also expressed concerns about Ireland’s ‘outlier’ status when it comes to the cost of medical negligence.
The PHA said: ‘The human and financial cost of the current clinical negligence claims system reveals a system that is not fit for purpose and has not been fit for purpose for some time.
‘The Government must move swiftly to initiate similar reforms when it comes to medical negligence as have been achieved in other areas of insurance such as cars, where costs have fallen by up to 16%,’ it added.
A recent report commissioned by the Medical Protection Society (MPS) confirmed Ireland’s outlier status. The MPS is the world’s leading protection organisation for 300,000 doctors, dentists, and healthcare professionals, specialising in legal and ethical problems that arise from negligence claims, complaints, and medical and dental council inquiries. It includes 16,000 in Ireland.
The report revealed that when it comes to the length of time a medical negligence case takes, an average claim in Ireland takes 1,462 days, 56% longer than in Hong Kong at 940 days, 56% longer than in the UK at 939 days, 56% longer than in Singapore at 938 days, and 14% longer than in South Africa at 1,279 days.
The report also revealed huge disparities in legal costs: The average costs for a claim in Ireland are €34,646, – 250% higher than in South Africa at €9,895, and 191% higher than in the UK, at €11,911.
Testimony from contributors to the MPS report also revealed the human cost of the current regime.
Doctors said: ‘There remains significant fear, stress and consequent deterioration in the doctor’s wellbeing associated with medicolegal cases. Any recognition or support from the employer is often absent.’
One contributor observed that people have ‘sleepless nights… emotionally, physically, intellectually, you are in a mess’.
Figures from the report also reveal that legal fees make up a large proportion of the costs.
In 2022, legal and expert costs represented almost 23% – €84.9million – of the costs of clinical claims, representing an 11% increase from 2021, when legal and expert costs totalled €76.5million, more than 21.4%. Preliminary indicators suggest that the bill is continuing to increase.
The State has been planning to reform medical costs for more than a decade after a Working Group on Medical Negligence and Periodic Payments was established and chaired by Judge Mary Irvine, former President of the High Court. The body produced recommendations in 2012 for ‘pre-action protocols’ on how cases are organised which would speed up the courts process.
The PHA said of the figures: ‘The first principle of good governance is to at least do no harm. That cannot be said to be the case when it comes to a system which is utterly stressful for healthcare professionals and their families and which leaves patients “worn down” going through a process that is excruciating, painful and adds insult to injury.
‘A practical and pragmatic system of reforms based on tried and proven precedents set by other countries is required as a matter of urgency’, they said.
‘The system can be utterly stressful’