§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost to the NHS has been of claims made against it by patients for negligence, broken down by(a) amount of compensation paid to patients and (b) total amount paid to lawyers for both the NHS and claimants in legal costs, in each of the last 10 years. [5025]
§ Ms BlearsFigures on the amounts included in the National Audit Summarised Accounts for clinical negligence expenditure for the latest available years are as follows:
£ million Year 1996–97 235 1997–98 144 1998–99 221 1999–2000 373 Source:
National health service summarised accounts for health authorities, NHS trusts and NHS Litigation Authority
Figures prior to 1996–97 are not available because clinical negligence was not separately identified in the accounts prior to that date.
Changes to accounting policies mean that these amounts are not directly comparable.
The summarised accounts do not show, and it is therefore not possible to break down separately what proportion of these figures are for compensation payments and legal costs.
§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost has been to the NHS of operating its complaints procedures in each of the last 10 years. [5023]