Payouts on medical negligence cases topped €315m in 2020
ALMOST €315m was paid out in damages in settlement of medical negligence claims together with associated legal costs last year, according to new figures released by the Department for Health.
Over €245m was paid out by the State in awards for clinical care cases in 2020 with related legal and expert witness costs adding almost €70m to the total bill for processing such claims.
The figures contained in response to a parliamentary question from Social Democrat co-leader Catherine Murphy show that legal costs for claimants amounted to just over €47m, with the State’s own legal costs totalling almost €22.7m.
The total cost of all claims at €314.8m is a 7pc decrease on the bill for handling similar claims in 2019 which totalled €339.6m.
The figures were published as a new paper in the latest edition of the Irish Medical Journal claims the true cost of maternity services in Ireland is more than double the reported cost when account is taken of associated claims for medical negligence.
The latest figures provided by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly show the State Claims Agency, which handles all personal injury cases on behalf of State bodies, paid out awards for medical negligence totalling €245,066,025 in 2020.
The top five largest individual payouts amounted to €77.2m – almost a third of all awards made by the SCA under the Clinical Indemnity Scheme.
The single biggest award for damages was for over €22.6m to an individual who suffered cerebral palsy during birth complications in hospital.
Three other awards of €18.4m, €14.8m and €12m were made to people who suffered cerebral palsy during birth. The fifth largest award of €9.4m was made to a person who suffered catastrophic non-brain injury in hospital.
The figures relate to cases settled during 2020, although the claims can date back over a long period of time.
A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General last year highlighted how the State is facing an outstanding liability of over €3.6m from personal injury and negligence cases, with clinical claims accounting for three-quarters of the total.
The C&AG also warned that the figure had been growing steadily in recent years.