Failures in patient safety

The BBC has today reported that the NHS faces paying £4.3bn in legal fees for outstanding clinical negligence cases.

It is reported by the Associated of Personal Injuries Lawyers that the main cause is due to failures in patient safety.

The BBC reports that many people have no intention to sue the NHS, however due to the difficulty of obtaining answers and transparency, this leaves them with no option but to sue. Many people simply want to find out what went wrong so that it does not happen again.

It is reported that 10% of clinical negligence claims relates to obstetrics, which take up 50% of compensation due to the lifelong care an injured child will require over the course of their life time.

NHS Resolution, who are the body that oversea clinical negligence claims in the NHS in England states that it is trying to keep costs down by promoting mediation but admits it’s important that they learn from their mistakes in order to improve patient safety.