No win no fee claims force NHS to increase budget
The NHS is likely to increase the fees it charges trusts for its clinical negligence scheme next year as
no win no fee claims leave the system with rising costs.
The Service has faced a double blow to its finances recently, as fees charged by solicitors representing claimants are reported to have increased by 122% in just four years and now cost them over £90 million. The Service's own legal bills are reported to have risen to around £43.3 million in the same amount of time – an increase of 48%. In addition to this, the NHS has also seen the amount of damages it has paid out rise by 10% since the year 2005-6, costing over £660 million last year.
Despite the rise in costs, the number of
compensation claims has remained steady over the past few years, hitting around 6,000 each year but with a slight decrease in the number of claimants over the past two years.