Clinical negligence in NHS on the rise, say Lib Dems

Posted 07/07/2009

The Liberal Democrats have expressed concern at the level of clinical negligence within the NHS.

According to figures obtained by the party, the number of major surgical errors has gone up by more than a quarter in the last five years.

This means that the NHS is becoming increasingly likely to face compensation claims from aggrieved patients, as mistakes such as incorrect dosages being given are becoming more commonplace.

Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb has condemned the figures, arguing that there is no excuse for avoidable mistakes being made.

However, he told the Daily Mail he believes the problem is partly due to doctors and nurses being under “enormous amounts of pressure to meet government targets”.

“We have to ensure that patient safety isn’t being compromised to satisfy the whims of Whitehall,” Mr Lamb insisted.

He added that standards in the NHS could be improved if local people were given the power to hold their health services to account.

This comes shortly after the Conservative Party estimated that the cost of clinical negligence claims in England could rise to £713 million per annum within the next few years.

Sharon Allison, a clinical negligence lawyer at Ashtons Legal, added: “Unsurprisingly the number of surgical errors is reported to have increased.

“In our considerable experience of dealing extensively with claims in this specialist area, the problem is far more widespread.

“Only a small proportion of those patients who have suffered an adverse medical accident actually pursue the matter through litigation, despite popular belief that the opposite is true.

“It is absolutely right that patients who have suffered consequences, sometimes lifelong, as a result of avoidable mistakes should recover compensation, however the vast majority do not, leaving these errors to continue again and again.”