Clinical compensation payments scrutinised by PAC

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has taken evidence today from the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety over compensation payments for clinical negligence.

During the session, the committee heard from Clive Gowdy relating to the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland’s report 'Compensation Payments for Clinical Negligence', which was released on July 5.

The committee was convened after it was revealed that the health and personal social services (HPSS) (the Boards and the Trusts) in Northern Ireland paid out £55 million in compensation for clinical negligence claims over the 10 years to 2001. The report, by the assembly's independent auditor John Dowdall, also states that, although the annual number of new claims has remained relatively static over recent years, the overall potential burden of clinical negligence increased significantly.

An estimated potential liability of £121 million at March 2001 was registered against 3,532 outstanding claims. This figure included contingent liabilities of £22.7 million, where there is an uncertainty that the liability will ever occur.

In the seven years to March 2001, when almost 4,200 new claims were made, the HPSS cleared over 2,100 claims, 670 resulting in compensation. Of the 538 claims for which the Audit Office was able to obtain details of the settlement amounts and fees, the overall cost was £32.3 million, which included £9.7 million in legal costs.

The Audit Office investigated the time taken to process 322 recent cases where compensation was paid. There was an average time of 4 or 5 years to settle a claim, while some exceptional cases ran for over 10 years.

The issue of HPSS funding has been raised by the assembly's 'Needs and Efficiency Study' which found that there was a £200 million gap in funding compared to England. Health Minister Bairbre de Brun addressed the study's findings saying: "Without prompt and appropriate assistance some will end up in hospital, and there will be a delay in returning people to the community after hospital care because services may not be in place to support them.

"The problem is that there are insufficient resources within the HPSS budget to deal effectively with this and other critical service pressures."

(GMcG)