Ministers bid to launch a compensation scheme for parents whose children are damaged at birth to cut £500 million bill
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt hopes to stop 'litigation culture' and help the NHS to learn from the mistakes
MINISTERS are to launch a compensation scheme for parents whose children are damaged at birth — as the cost of settling claims hits half a billion pounds.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt hopes to end the culture where going to court is an automatic first step.
Mr Hunt wants to foster a culture of transparency so the NHS can learn from its mistakes.
Under the plans, parents who say medical errors have caused severe damage to their children could join a voluntary “rapid resolution and redress” scheme.
Their claim would be assessed by investigators working independently from the NHS trust involved.
Their findings would be presented to a panel of experts who would then decide if compensation is warranted.
The scheme, which would assess around 500 cases a year, would work out far cheaper for the health service.
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The compensation bill to the NHS for errors around the time of birth reached £509.3million in 2015/16, up from £393.2million in 2014/15.
In a speech at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists today, Mr Hunt was set to announce £8million for training.
He was also due to explain how a similar scheme in Sweden has reduced serious avoidable birth injuries by 50 per cent in seven years.
Other measures being unveiled include a new Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch, modelled on the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.
