Payment of negligence claims in doubt

EIGHTY women suing obstetricians for negligence could be left without any compensation unless the State picks up the multi-million euro tab for these doctors’ liabilities.

The British-based Medical Defence Union (MDU), which indemnified Irish consultant obstetricians up to March 2001, said yesterday it may not be able to defend its members for any liabilities before that date.

Now the MDU wants the Department of Health to pick up the costs of any medical negligence claims arising from work done by obstetricians in public hospitals before March 2001. It estimates this could cost anything up to €150 million.

But the department could not say yesterday if it will pay the bill.

"Discussions are still ongoing with the MDU about this cover," a spokesman said. "There is no cause for concern because cover has not been withdrawn."

However, Irish Patient Focus, which represents the 80 women whose cases against obstetricians are pending in the High Court, last night called on the department to pay for future awards its members may win in the courts.

"This is a bizarre situation the State will just have to look after these women if the insurance company will not do it," said Irish Patient Focus spokeswoman Sheila O'Connor.

Ms O'Connor questioned how the MDU could say it may not indemnify obstetricians for liabilities before March 2001 when these consultants paid their subscriptions for decades before that.

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) echoed this view. This move will damage the confidence in the MDU of consultants who paid their subscriptions over the years on the basis that they would be covered when they needed it, IHCA secretary general Finbarr Fitzpatrick said. "Now they are told that they may not be covered this is unfair to patients who have a good case to make," Mr Fitzpatrick added.

Irish obstetricians left the MDU in March 2001 because their annual subscriptions rocketed from €86,360 to €500,000. The Health Department then sponsored their cover with the Medical Protection Society (MPS).

Under the enterprise liability scheme, the obstetricians paid an annual premium of €78,600 and the department agreed to indemnify them against any future claims.

But the MDU said yesterday it will not accept responsibility for procedures carried out by obstetricians before March 2001 if they remain part of the new enterprise liability scheme.

Asked why the department should pay to indemnify obstetricians who had paid subscriptions for decades, a spokeswoman for the MDU said:

"There is no legal obligation on MDU to cover the costs of awards made against obstetricians, because the benefits have always been at the discretion of our board. And the subscriptions paid by the obstetricians since the early 1990s did not keep pace with the awards that we had to pay out."