Consultants warned over claim cover as talks stall

CONSULTANTS have been warned they may not be covered for new and existing claims after the Medical Defence Union (MDU) withdrew from talks with the Department of Health.

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA), which deferred industrial action while Government efforts to secure insurance cover for past malpractice claims continued, said it was extremely concerned at the latest development.

It called into question the determination of both sides to settle the matter.

The IHCA said it will be urging the MDU to re-enter negotiations with the department immediately when it meets board members in London next Monday.

The association will also meet with department officials next Friday.

The situation will also be reviewed at its national council meeting on Saturday.

The MDU has warned obstetricians that while all new requests for discretionary assistance will be considered, they should not hold the expectation that the board will exercise its discretion to help with claims.

MDU chief executive Dr Michael Saunders said discussions with the department had been “frustratingly slow” and it believed that the department did not intend to reach an agreement on the issue.

Last year, the MDU paid out over €17 million in settling obstetric cases and it was not in the interests of members to allow this to continue indefinitely.

Health Minister Micheál Martin said he was surprised at both the tone and content of the statement issued by the MDU on the matter.

He said the MDU had been pressing the Government to relieve it of the bulk of its historic liabilities on the basis that it had not collected sufficient income from its Irish members to meet the costs involved.

“The Government cannot and will not be dictated to by an indemnity organisation which has got itself into the plight that the MDU has,” Mr Martin said.

Dr Saunders said the MDU now planned to notify obstetricians individually as the issue of the exercise of their discretion arose.

He pointed out that most of its members, who hold an Eagle Star insurance policy, would be unaffected by its decision as their policy entitled them to assistance with clinical negligence claims, subject only to the terms of the policy.

Since 1977, the MDU took €25m in subscriptions from consultant obstetricians and by December 2003 had paid out €62m in settling obstetric claims.

The MDU’s estimate of future liability for unreported past obstetric claims is around €170m, which is well below the department’s current estimate of €400m.

Dr Saunders said it was true that they did not take enough money in members’ subscriptions for the obstetric cases but no one knew what it would amount to at the time and, anyway, it would have been impossible to charge the right amount of money.

He said the issue was all about where the money was going to come from to pay for claims, some of which dated back to the 1980s.