04 July 2003
Patients harmed by substandard NHS care will be offered an explanation and compensation of up to £30,000 under proposals unveiled this week that aim to cut the burgeoning health service clinical negligence bill.
This has increased from £1m in 1974/75 (£6.33m at 2002 prices) to £446m by 2001/02. The service expects to pay out £5.25bn for claims that are known or anticipated over the next few years.
The new mediation system, known as NHS Redress, was put together by chief medical officer Professor Sir Liam Donaldson and will have four elements.
When a complaint is made, there will be an investigation, followed by an explanation. Then a remedial package of care will be put together and there will be a payment for pain and suffering, expenses and care the NHS cannot provide.
Payment would be made by a national body for amounts up to £30,000 or by a local trust.
There would be different arrangements for neurologically impaired babies. A package of compensation would be provided in cash or kind, including payments of up to £100,000 a year to cover care that cannot be provided by the NHS, one-off payments of up to £50,000 for equipment, and an initial compensation payment of no more than £50,000.
The proposals would apply only to English NHS hospital care initially, though they could be extended to primary care and the treatment of NHS patients by independent and overseas hospitals.
Those accepting a care and compensation package under the scheme would waive their right to sue the service.
Donaldson said many complainants were dissatisfied with the current system.
'For many, it is not the size of any compensation that matters so much as an apology, an explanation and, vitally, evidence that something is being done to minimise the risk of a similar problem happening in the future,' he said.
'For too long, we have tended to look at clinical negligence in isolation, but effective handling of claims is part of delivering a better quality health service.'
The British Medical Association welcomed the introduction of a less adversarial system but added that the government should consider a no-fault compensation scheme with maximum payouts.
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