Legal fees paid by NHS to amublance-chasing lawyers almost double compared to patient pay-outs
The NHS paid £950.4million in compensation last year as a result of clinical negligence claims, with lawyers taking almost half of that money
LEGAL fees paid to ambulance-chasing lawyers have risen almost twice as fast as the pay-outs they won for injured patients, figures show.
The NHS paid £950.4million in compensation last year as a result of clinical negligence claims – up 23 per cent on 2014/15.
But the amount paid to the victims’ legal teams rocketed by 43 per cent over the same period to £418million.
Defence costs also rose 16 per cent to £120million – giving a total bill to the health service of £1.49billion.
The rising costs come despite a 4.6 per cent FALL in the number of claims, from 11,497 in 2014/15 to 10,965 in 2015/16.
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The shocking figures – released at a time of financial meltdown in the health service – are included in the NHS Litigation Authority’s annual report.
The Medical Defence Union, which insures doctors and provides them with legal advice, said the money would be better spent on patient care.
Dr Matthew Lee, Director of Professional Services at the MDU, said: “The NHS cannot afford to keep paying ever increasing legal costs and further reforms are urgently needed to make sure patients are fairly compensated and that public money for patient care is protected.”
A spokesman for the NHS Litigation Authority said: “We continue to challenge claimant legal costs where they appear excessive.
“We are also informing a proposed consultation by the Department of Health on limiting the costs that can be recovered for relatively low value claims.”