Medical claims still stalled

THE bureaucratic delay in handing over medical claims to the new body responsible for reducing compensation costs will not be resolved for at least another month.

The Department of Health has yet to seek the authorisation of health boards to allow the State Claims Agency (SCA) to investigate compensation claims.

The delay means the State could be forced to pay out millions of euros more in compensation damages and legal costs arising from medical malpractice and clinical negligence cases.

Medical claims against hospitals since July 1 are to be dealt with by the SCA. Red tape in the Department of Health has prevented the agency from being given the authority to handle these claims.

But health boards contacted yesterday said the delay was not being caused at their end. The delegation order granting legal authority to the SCA has not been signed by the health boards as the department has yet to circulate the necessary documentation.

Most health boards said they expected to receive the delegation order before the end of the month.

Health boards still have not signed the legally binding agreement almost three years after the department decided that risk and compensation claims for the public health services should be covered by a State-run scheme.

Without the authorisation, the SCA cannot investigate any of the potential cases immediately and thus reduce the costs to the taxpayer.

All three of the health boards in the Greater Dublin area indicated they had no problem with allowing the SCA to handle their compensation cases. The SCA has said that it would be helpful if the department signed over responsibility for the larger health boards as soon as possible.

The South Western Area Health Board said it signed up to the Enterprise Liability Clinical Indemnity Scheme on July 1 and expected a delegation order to be forwarded before the end of the month.

The East Coast Area Health Board said the signing of the delegation order was just a procedural step to be taken.

The Northern Area Health Board said the board signed up to the scheme on July 1 and had done everything requested to date. The Southern Health Board and the North Western Health Board said they were also signed up to the scheme.

The Mid-West Health Board said clinical claims notified to the board are being passed on to the SCA at the request of the department.

The South Eastern Health Board said it has reported potential claims to the SCA since July 1 instead of its previous insurer.

The North East Health Board also said it had been passing over potential negligence claims since July 1.