Doctors priced out of job as NHS legal bills soar

THE NHS faces rising legal bills which are forcing some doctors out of the profession, according to a new report.

Research for the Centre for Policy Studies found the NHS paid out £1.4bn over medical legal claims last year, with the figure increasing by around ten per cent a year.

The think-tank’s report said the rising cost of indemnity cover to an average of £8,000 a year was making it too expensive to work for some GPs, particularly those operating out-of-hours services.

It also pointed to long investigations into medical claims as contributing to the high suicide rate among doctors and high rates of mental health problems.

Consultant neurologist Dr Paul Goldsmith, who wrote the report, argued the system was also failing patients who often had to wait long periods for claims to be settled before they could access the support they need.

Claims are typically settled between five and seven years after the initial incident.

His research found that despite the United States’s reputation for medical litigation, its compensation costs are £9 per person compared to £24 per person in the UK.

Dr Goldsmith’s report calls for a major overhaul of the law covering personal injuries which assumes compensation awarded will be used for private health care and does not take into account whether treatment on the NHS is available.

It argued it was unfair that the use of future salary loss as part of the compensation calculation meant two individuals suffering the same accident could end up receiving significantly different sums.

The report questioned why compensation is awarded as a lump sum with no reappraisal if the patient’s condition later improves.

It proposed creating a ‘no fault’ compensation scheme overseen by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.