NHS must do more to avoid legal actions as fees top £4bn

THE NHS must admit its failings quicker or face paying out legal fees of up to £4.3 billion, a former Tory health secretary has said.

Stephen Dorrell spoke out after an investigation revealed NHS estimates of how much services would pay to lawyers if all the current claims they are facing go ahead.

Last year, the NHS paid out £2.4billion for negligence claims, while all outstanding claims reached £83 billion, health watchdogs said.

Freedom of Information disclosures supplied to the BBC reveal that trusts expect to pay out £4.3billion in legal fees, if all such claims went ahead.

Last year, a Daily Telegraph investigation revealed that compensation paid out for harm and deaths caused by NHS delays and blunders had doubled in five years.

Yesterday, Mr Dorrell said the “real scandal” was the time trusts spent arguing legal cases when they should have admitted to failings.

“That’s why we end up providing more than £4 billion for lawyers to extend the process and argue over who is responsible,” he said. “You need to begin by addressing the culture and understand why the person isn’t satisfied and look for a learning opportunity. You need to get to decisions quicker.”

A Health Department spokesman said: “We are committed to tackling the unsustainable rise in the cost of clinical negligence and are working collaboratively across government and the NHS on proposals, which we will set out details of in due course.”