News | Medical Negligence Claims Soar in Yorkshire
The Yorkshire Post has recently reported that in the period April 2009 and March 2010 there were 1281 claims or reports of clinical mistakes against Yorkshire’s hospitals and clinics; an increase of almost 10% on the previous year.
It is reported that the negligence is costing the NHS £80m a year, which equates to more than £150 per minute for the taxpayer, and the complaints keep going up!
The soaring costs have prompted government ministers to call for reforms to the current system, which could include withdrawing legal aid for most clinical negligence . It has also proposed changes to conditional fee agreements (CFAs), often referred to as no win, no fee agreements, which it says will make the system fair for both claimants and defendants.
However, critics of the reforms are concerned that it will be much more difficult for victims of medical negligence to claim compensation. Of course the NHS’s bill will be reduced, but will it be at the cost of injured people being denied access to justice? There is no indication that the number of mistakes will be reduced, simply that less will come to light!
It is understood that the government has indicated that it believes that access to legal representation in order to claim compensation is crucial and that victims of clinical negligence with valid cases will continue to be able to use the no win, no fee system.
If you have any questions relating to medical negligence issues please contact our medical negligence team on 0114 321 1888, or email medical-web-enquiries@graysons.co.uk
