NHS Litigation Authority Negligence Claims and Standards of Management Practices

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NHS Litigation Authority

The NHS Litigation Authority (www.nhsla.com) looks after negligence claims made against the NHS and its staff members. In addition it works to improve risk management practises to prevent negligence occurring. In the case of disputes between medical staff and primary care trusts, the NHSLA will step in to resolve any issues and to give advice on human rights cases and equal pay disputes.

The NHSLA is responsible to the Secretary Of State For Health and the business plan of how the body will work is agreed with the Department of Health each year.

The numbers of compensation cases made against the NHS have risen significantly in the past few years and the total payout is now up to £863 million for the 2010/2011 year compared to £787 million for the previous year. This was represented by 8,655 clinical negligence claims and 4,346 non-clinical negligence claims.

In the UK a person is able to claim compensation if they are injured as a result of the negligence of another person and in order for compensation to be claimed from the NHS, certain criteria must be met.

The medical professional must have failed to meet acceptable professional standards. These standards must be backed up by the body of clinical opinion. If most other doctors would agree with the action taken by the practitioner they will not be held liable.
The harm must be shown to be linked to the actions of the practitioner and their failure to meet appropriate standards. The claim will not succeed if it can be shown that the patient would have come to harm regardless of the actions of the doctor.

The NHSLA recommend that anyone who feels they meet this criteria should contact Action Against Medical Accidents to discuss the compensation and complaints procedure. They may be able to recommend a solicitor or help the patient to come to terms with what has happened to them, even if it turns out not to be caused by medical negligence.

The NHS also have a complaints system which can be used if the compensation route is not suitable. This may lead to apologies and redress such as changes to procedures to prevent the problem happening again. In the case of a complaint, it is unusual for compensation to be offered.

One of the main functions of the NHSLA is to prevent negligence from happening in the first place. They do this through a risk management programme of assessments and standard. The NHS hospitals under the scheme are regularly assessed to ensure that risk management strategies are being followed. In addition new strategies are put in place to reflect any issues which may have come to light due to negligence cases.

It has been stated that fewer than 2% of negligence cases involving the NHS end up in court with most being settled before it goes that far. Some are also abandoned by the claimant before the NHSLA has been able to look into it. The NHSLA tries to use mediation as a way to resolving disputes at an early stage. In addition they use a clear framework to ensure all claims are handled fairly and consistently. Any unjustified claims are robustly defended to ensure that the NHS is not paying out money it does not need to.

While it is the responsibility of the NHSLA to get compensation claims down to a reasonable level, not all claimants agree that they are entirely fair. The family of Nicola Crelling say that the NHSLA battled to reduce the compensation amount she would receive despite her suffering brain damage due to being given 32 times the usual amount of a drug to induce labour. They had initially agreed to being just 25% responsible, but later agreed that the full compensation could be paid.

With so few cases reaching the courts, it is essential to get the right legal representation when approaching the NHSLA for compensation. Specialist medical negligence lawyers are able to ensure that the right levels of compensation are offered.

Other popular articles related to this one include: NHSLA, The Ministry of Justice, Legal Complaints Ombudsman, Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, The Law Society, Charities Helped, Legal Aid Services, and . Please let us know if you find any errors.

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