Rachel Reeves, the Foreign Minister of the Treasury, is due to the two -year box and announces what could be said that it is the most significant set of decisions that the Government is established to take this parliament: the review of expenses.
While it may sound technical, it will undoubtedly be or great importance. The expenses review will establish how much each department should spend per year until 2029, effectively confirming the viability of many policies and proposals. The announcement will lay the basis for the conditions under the next general elections that takes place, and will have a real impact on public services used by dozens of millions of people in the United Kingdom every year.
In the previous months, a narrative has been clear above all others: money is scarce. In this context, looking at the reforms within the departments to release funds for investment is key. One of the main opportunities to do so is in relation to clinical negligence.
Clinical negligence may not be the most striking of problems, but the sums are significant. In 2023/24, the NHS in England spent 2.8 billion on it. For perspective, this is more than subsidies spent for farmers (£ 2.4 billion), in the combined cost of food and cleaning in hospitals (£ 2.3 billion) and the payment of winter fuel (£ 2 billion). We spend more on it than in the GPS in Midlands, which serve approximately 10 million people. In the near future, the cost is also forecast that it will increase significantly, potentially to more than 4 billion per year for the end of the decade.
Having such fixed sums on this problem is a relatively new phenomenon. Less than 20 years ago, we were spending only 600 million a year, the equivalent of approximately 1 billion today. This is still an amount of SIZEBEY, but almost £ 2 billion less than us, what we really spend now. What does the question ask? Because?
The Department of Health and Social Care is clear that they do not believe that it is due to a fall in clinical care standards. The MDU agrees. In 2021, the Government declared in the evidence of the Select Health and Social Care Committee that “We do not believe that no measurable reduction in security is promoting the long -term increase in the cost of clinical negligence claims. “ So, we can rule out the most obvious potential cause, what is behind this increase?
A possible explanation lies in the growing costs incurred in the claiming legal fees. In 2006/07, the claimant’s legal fees amounted to approximately 98 million (the equivalent of around £ 165 million in current money). In 2023/24, this figure stood at £ 545 million. For less value claims, in which the claimant receives up to £ 25,000, the average cost of legal fees in 2023/24 was more than 96 million. According to the NHS resolution, this meant that for claims valued at up to £ 25,000, the average legal fees were now £ 26,095, rather than the amount really granted to the plaintiffs. It is an area that the Public Accounts Committee and the Government have declared that it must be examined.
In recent years, it was felt that the action was finally Inmantad. Unfortunately, this proved to be a false hope. After a consultation in 2022, it was announced that the Government would implement a fixed recoverable cost system (FRC) for less value claims. This would effectively fulfill an established amount of legal costs that the loser part can claim from the loser part in litigation. It is a practice established in most personal injury claims. However, despite the announcement in 2023, no progress has been made since then, although these changes result in saving around £ 454 million of approximately a period of 10 years.
This is only part of a broader package of potential reforms that the MDU has asked for a long time. We Also, For Example, Support The Repeal of Section 2 (4) or The Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948. This Legislation, enacted Before the NHS CAME INE Existence, Forces Cours to Disregard NHS Services When Award Compensation for for clinical or private. Health care. This means that if the claimant uses the NHS for restorative work, the NHS is effective paying double. It is clear that change is needed.
These changes are only two of the potential ways of reforming the current system. Both will result in savings and help compensate for the rapid increase we are currently seeing in clinical negligence costs.
Those who are harmed as a result of clinical nigligence should receive adequate compensation, but reforms are needed to help address the fiscal fiscal problem for treasure.
For more information about this problem, visit the MDU website at: Our Impact – The MDU.
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