A Medical Negligence view of Lord Darzi's Independent investigation of the NHS in England
The Lord Darzi report is stark in its description of the current state of the NHS, but it should not come as a surprise because many of the issues have been documented for years. Sadly, the problems highlighted in the report are leading to more patients suffering unnecessary harm, but it is often only through the legal cases that wider issues are highlighted and tackled.
The report by Lord Darzi highlights how there have been a succession of health scandals, particularly in relation to maternity care such as East Kent, Shrewsbury and Morecambe Bay, yet the recommendations of reviews into these scandals have not been universally adopted. A Health Committee report in 2021 on “Safety of maternity services in England” also highlighted the importance of staffing, resourcing, leadership, and early responses to patient safety incidents.
It's imperative that when something goes wrong in the NHS the problems are analysed and reviewed – and any recommendations implemented to prevent the same mistakes happening time and time again.
The rise in medical negligence costs due to the state of the NHS is often a focus of potential law reform, but it is too easy to point the finger at the lawyers. All of the victims of medical negligence would rather not be in this situation, they are not receiving a lottery win, they are provided with the necessary funds that are carefully calculated and agreed by the courts to help get their lives back on track.
Improving patient safety, learning from mistakes and preventing harm in the first place is the best way to tackle clinical negligence costs.
That said there are still improvements that could be made to the litigation process to reduce medical negligence costs.
In recent years we have seen a step change in attitudes from NHS Resolution and their panel lawyers to become more collaborative as we seek help for patients through alternative dispute processes such as mediation. There is still more work to do but it is clear that everyone actually involved in the Claims process now recognises that working collaboratively is the most cost effective way of concluding these claims and is in the best interests of both harmed patients and the NHS.
Read more about our expertise in Medical Negligence claims.
