Claim for Negligence: Compensation

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Claim for Negligence

The prevalence of claims for negligence in the medical sector have increased over the last few years and has resulted in the NHS having to use monetary resources to fund claims for compensation and not to fix the problems which are causing negligence in the first place. In addition to the compensation payments, legal aid is being paid out to fund these cases.

John Lamont, the Conservative spokesman for justice tabled figures in November 2010 which showed that the bill for legal aid for negligence cases was £1.27 million for the previous six months compared to the previous whole year which was just £1 million. He pointed out that legal aid for cases against the NHS have increased at a shocking rate.

Other members of parliament also commented that the figures could indicate that there are safety concerns for patients being treated by the NHS.

Cases include that of Geoff Jones whose wife Kay died following a major operation in February 2008. She had been visited at home by a district nurse who failed to notice that she was showing signs of a blood clot on her lungs. This was due to spending time in bed when she should have been advised to be mobile. Her husband had been told not to be alarmed by her breathlessness and that it was to be expected. He is claiming £300,000 in compensation for negligence.

Despite the distress and anguish caused by cases such as this, new regulations on the use of legal aid may mean that many people like Mr Jones may not be able to claim the compensation they deserve.

The government have announced in November 2010 that they will be halving the legal aid bill in the UK by making it harder for people to claim legal aid for a number of cases including those for negligence. Legal aid will only be available to those whose life or liberty is at stake and can not be used by migrants contesting immigration decisions, personal injury cases and for such things as school exclusions.

It has been suggested that people should take out insurances to cover their legal costs should they wish to take these sorts of cases to court. It is hoped that the move will free up the public system to spend money in areas where it is more needed.

If the net result of taking away legal aid is that there are less spurious cases of negligence taken to court then this can only be a good thing. The NHS will be able to spend money to improve their services rather than on compensation payouts. However it is worth noting that those with real complaints may not be able to have their day in court. They will miss out on vital payments and the issue may never be highlighted to the public.

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