Payout claims draining NHS of £1.6bn

THE cost of clinical negligence claims against the NHS has soared to £1.6billion a year due to ambulance-chasing lawyers, the official spending watchdog revealed.

Over the past decade, the number of claims following treatment blunders has doubled to 10,400 a year, while the annual bill for damages plus legal bills has quadrupled from £400million.

The National Audit Office (NAO) blamed the rise on an increase in mistakes made on maternity wards, and predicted the bill could double within four years to £3.2billion as waiting lists get longer and staff come under even greater pressure.

In a highly critical report, the NAO pinned much of the increase on no-win no-fee lawyers encouraging patients to take out claims and then charging exorbitant fees if they win.

Auditors found that while damages had increased by 316 per cent over the decade, this had been outstripped by legal costs rising 533 per cent.

In 2016/17, the claimant’s legal costs exceeded the damages awarded in 61 per cent of cases worth £250,000 or less.

By contrast, defence legal costs have hardly risen at all.

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents health trusts, said: ‘We cannot go on like this. This rising tide of litigation is draining the NHS of resources.’