VIDEO: Medical compensation law ‘no longer fit for purpose’

The MDU has made a short animation to highlight unsustainable rises in compensation claims in medical negligence cases, which are increasing way ahead of society’s ability to pay.

Dr Michael Devlin, MDU head of professional standards and liaison explains the reason for making an animation about the MDU’s fair compensation campaign:

“Over £1.1billion was paid out by the NHS to compensate patients involved in medical negligence claims in 2014/15 which is enough to pay for 20,737 salaried GPs, or it could fund over eight million MRI scans, or 61,000 liver transplants. Damages awards in England are some of the highest in the world and claims costs are doubling in value every seven years.

“The reason for these increases are multifactorial, but there is no evidence that clinical standards have deteriorated in any way. 

“It is astonishing, given all the pressure on NHS budgets that NHS negligence payouts of over £1bn per year do not feature at the top of the Government’s agenda. There is also low awareness among doctors, MPs and the public of the vast amounts being paid out by the NHS in compensation claims. We are working hard to change that and we hope that our short animation will explain why the law should be changed and how that can be done.  Fixed costs are a start but only legal reform will stop the spiralling costs.

“We urge everyone to watch the animation and then show their support for our campaign by writing to or tweeting their MPs."