Only one in five medical claims result in compensation being paid, MDU annual report reveals
Doctors are feeling the pressure from the current adversarial climate where complaints and claims are common, but the Medical Defence Union (MDU) revealed that it is defending more negligence claims successfully.
Following the release of the MDU’s Annual Report for 2015, which was published today, Dr Christine Tomkins, MDU chief executive, said:
“The continued financial and other pressures on the NHS and their direct impact on clinicians who work within it, meant 2015 was another challenging year for the MDU’s members. We recognise that medico-legal issues like complaints and claims contribute to this pressure.
“For the MDU’s part, we are working hard to ensure members are not disadvantaged by the current climate. While claims have increased over recent years, so has the MDU’s success rate in defending cases. In 2015, we only paid compensation in 20% of medical claims, successfully defending the remaining 80%. However, these unmeritorious claims still take their toll on members and there is a considerable cost to the MDU in investigating and responding to so many of them.
“Claims and complaints may be common, but it would be wrong to conclude that this represents a deterioration in standards of care. The climate in which doctors work can often seem difficult, but professional standards are very high and our members continue to provide excellent care to the communities they serve.
“Supporting doctors with medico-legal challenges is the reason the MDU was set up over 130 years ago, and why we still exist today. Our sustainability is in no small part due to the fact that we are a mutual, not for profit organisation whose funds, time and efforts are wholly directed to guiding, supporting and defending our members.
“This matters to doctors because they need to know that they get the best defence and the organisation they pay their subscription to has the stability, longevity and expertise to ensure the best outcome for them.
“The MDU’s expertise and robust defence of doctors remains vital in helping our members throughout these turbulent times.”
