Soaring NHS negligence bill could have paid for 6500 more doctors

NHS spending on medical blunders could fund more than 6,000 more doctors, with costs soaring by more than 70 per cent in just five years, new figures show.

The Medical Protection Society (MPS) said current trends will see annual spending hit £2.6bn within five years, and could threaten the survival of the NHS.

The organisation, which advises more than 300,000 medics, called for sweeping changes to the legal system, to limit the amount spent on lawyers, and cuts to damages payouts.

Its experts said increasing patient expectations and disportionate legal costs were fuelling costs which were not affordable.

In the five years to 2015/16, the total number of claims has risen by 27 per cent, official figures show.

But the costs rose by 72 per cent over the same period, with £1.5bn paid out in 2015/16, the report shows.

The figure could pay for the training of 6,500 doctors, the report says.

Many of the most expensive claims involve babies left brain damaged at birth.

Since 2004/5, the value of claims against NHS maternity units for brain damage and cerebral palsy has risen from £354m to £990m, official figures show.

The cases – often linked with a failure to monitor babies’ heart rates, to detect risks of oxygen starvation – fuelled maternity negligence claims of more than £1.2bn in 2015/16.

The report found GPs are now twice as likely to be sued for clinical negligence as they were a decade ago, with the highest claim paid costing £5.5m.

And it said the NHS had was facing increasing numbers of claims which had no merit - with almost 5,000 failed claims in 2015/16.

On current trends, the NHS will spend £2.6bn a year on claims by 2022, says the report, which calls for wholesale reform of the legal system, including fixed recoverable costs for claims up to £250,000 to stop lawyers charging "disproportionate" legal fees.

It also suggests that calulations for damages should be based on the loss of average earnings, not actual earnings.

This means higher earners would not receive more from the NHS in compensation than lower earners for a similar claim.

And it calls for a limits on future care costs, and a 10 year limit on making a claim.

Emma Hallinan, director of claims at the MPS, said: "It is important that there is reasonable compensation for patients harmed following clinical negligence, but a balance must be struck against society's ability to pay. If the current trend continues the balance will tip too far and the cost risks becoming unsustainable for the NHS and ultimately for society.

"This is without doubt a difficult debate to have, but difficult decisions are made about spending in healthcare every day and we have reached a point where the amount society pays for clinical negligence must be one of them,” she said.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “We agree that clinical negligence costs are too high – so we’re taking action to drive these down. We have consulted on proposals to cap exorbitant payments going to lawyers, and NHS Resolution will give hospitals incentives to learn from mistakes so that costs are reduced just as patient care improves.”