Medical Negligence Cases
Is The Recession Causing a Rise in Medical Negligence Claims?
A representative from the Aneurin Bevan Health Board has raised the question as to whether members of the public are making unscrupulous medical negligence claims for financial gain in order to combat the recession. The unnamed spokesperson said: “There is a direct link between increases in negligence claims and periods of economic recession.” He went on to say that: “obviously not every case is found to be justified.” These quotes were made in light of the revelation that, over the last five years, more than £4million was paid out by the Aneurin Health Board alone and that compensation claims have risen by 40% during that period.
A complex business
The comments made seem to underestimate the difficulty involved in trying to launch a medical negligence case. The components of simply proving that you have grounds on which to launch a claim are complicated and confusing. In order to begin, a complainant must pursue two legal strands: negligence and causation. In order for a claim to be considered, both these strands must be successful. In the case of negligence, the claimant must prove that the standard of care that they received fell below medically acceptable standards. Care that is less than best practice may still not be found to be negligent in legal terms.
Causation must prove that the breach of duty or the negligence of a clinician caused a direct injury to the claimant. It is not enough to simply prove that someone did something wrong - it must be proven that this lead directly to an injury. In order to pursue these two components, a claimant would be required to produce evidence in relation to their medical records, a legal statement about what has happened and any other documents that support the case. With or without the use of a solicitor, a supportive report from an independent medical expert must also be sought. It is small wonder that most claims are filed through compensation claim specialists, who are unlikely to pursue a claim that has no substance.
Other factors in Medical Negligence Cases
Instead, it is more likely that other factors have lead to the national rise in medical compensation cases. It has been suggested that press coverage has instilled the public with a greater willingness to question doctors’ decisions than 20 years ago. This could play a significant part in the rise in medical negligence cases. Now, more than ever before, there is a greater awareness of the failings of the healthcare system; NHS staff work under enormous pressure on a daily basis and it is an unfortunate fact that mistakes are made.
There can be little doubt that the recession is biting deeply and people are looking for ways to make a little extra money wherever they can. However, to suggest that people would risk prosecution and put themselves through an extremely complicated process without any guarantee of receiving any payout is little short of cynical. In addition, the majority of compensation claims specialists would not be drawn into a deception of this complexity knowingly, and their expertise would be likely to prevent it happening in the first place.
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