£22.7bn Earmarked For NHS Clinical Negligence Claims

A total of £22.7 billion has been set aside to deal with clinical negligence claims, the NHS Litigation Authority revealed in a report released this week.

This represents a 22% increase on the organisation’s budget last year, reflecting the 11% annual rise in the number of claims and increasing concerns about NHS hospital negligence. In 2011/12, around 13,500 people made a medical negligence claim against the NHS, but in 2012/13 this rose to over 16,000.

While this fund represents almost one-fifth of the NHS’ budget, it is very unlikely that all the money will be spent on medical negligence compensation. The authority estimates the number of cases it will not be able to defend itself against every year, the size of these compensation claims and the severity of the errors it makes.

Many victims of clinical negligence never make a claim for compensation. Currently, the authority has £9.5 billion to deal with claims that have already been made against the NHS but have not yet been settled, and £13.2 billion earmarked for claims it might see in the future.

In 2012, the authority spent a total of £1.258 billion, with around £275 million going to medical negligence solicitors.

Hospital negligence claims

The UK is bound to see a number of hospital negligence claims in the immediate future, with NHS Trusts across the country dealing with scandals and poor standards of care. If you have been the victim of clinical negligence in the NHS, then you may be able to make a claim for compensation.

Make a medical negligence claim

Clearwater Solicitors specialise in clinical negligence claims and our medical negligence solicitors can help you succeed in a compensation claim against the NHS. Just call us on 08000 430 430 or fill in our online enquiry form.