Milburn pledges to settle compensation claims more quickly

Internal links

Leading article: Don't make patients suffer for the ills of the NHS

Claims against the NHS for medical mistakes will be easier and quicker to settle under proposals announced yesterday.

Alan Milburn, the Secretary of State for Health, launched an inquiry into radical reforms of the clinical negligence compensation system ahead of a White Paper to be produced by a committee under the direction of Professor Liam Donald-son, the chief medical officer.

Mr Milburn said the current system did not work either for patients or health staff, and was overdue for reform. "We have to find a fairer and faster way of compensating people when things go wrong," he said.

The move follows a growing trend of patients towards seeking damages from the NHS when things go wrong, often with recourse to courts. Claims last year topped £400m.

The average time for a claim to be settled is five and a half years. In 44 per cent of cases legal costs amount to more than the settlement. The Department of Health concedes the system is slow and bureaucratic, and encourages a "cover-up culture" with doctors unwilling to admit mistakes.

The committee chaired by Professor Donaldson will consult on introducing a no-fault compensation scheme, which would avoid legal costs and court delays. NHS staff would not be taken to court or be blamed for mistakes as in the present adversarial system.

Instead a fixed tariff system would be used for specific injuries. Lawyers might find the scheme less lucrative, but the Government believes the amount of compensation paid to patients or their families will not be reduced.