Call to cut NHS payouts for negligence an ‘ignorant’ move

NHS LEADERS should “hang their head in shame” for calling for cuts in payouts for victims of medical blunders, patients groups have said.

Peter Walsh, the chief executive of Action against Medical Accidents (AVMA) said it was “ignorant and uncaring” to propose such measures, which he said would harm the most vulnerable in society.

The NHS Confederation, British Medical Association and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges this week wrote to to David Gauke, the Justice Secretary, calling for a cut in negligence payouts, as the NHS could not afford to meet the “staggering” costs of negligence. Their views, revealed in The Daily Telegraph, met an immediate backlash from patient safety campaigners, who urged the NHS to prioritise prevention of blunders, rather than trying to pay less to those who suffer harm.

Mr Walsh said he was “shocked and disappointed” by the proposals, which he said were a “hideously unfair” attempt to punish those who had suffered at the hands of the NHS.

“It is ignorant and uncaring to suggest that people who have been harmed or have lost loved ones as a result of negligence should forfeit the compensation they need and deserve because the Government is not prepared to invest enough in patient safety or NHS services. Those proposing it should hang their heads in shame.”

Writing for Telegraph.co.uk, Mr Walsh said: “Depriving people who have been harmed by clinical negligence of the justice and compensation they need ... is not the way to solve the NHS’S problems and would harm patient safety itself as well as being hideously unfair to patients and families.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “All personal injury victims should, of course, be fully compensated, but the costs involved should also be proportionate.”