Hospitals with history of ‘bad claims’ could face budget cuts

HOSPITALS hit by a large number of lawsuits on foot of medical negligence claims face having their budgets cut if Bord Snip Nua’s recommendations are implemented.

The special group tasked with reviewing public service expenditure recommends that the cost and number of claims against each hospital “be charged to the hospital concerned” and “taken into account by the Health Service Executive (HSE) in deciding on financial allocations to individual hospitals based on best performance”.

The recommendation is put forward as an incentive to promote better risk management in hospitals, although the special group admits it is not possible to calculate what savings it would make.