Admission of error may cut medical legal bill by €400m

Government plans set to be announced next week could save the State €400m a year in legal cases against the HSE.

The groundbreaking move was revealed at a medical negligence conference yesterday, and said encouraging doctors to immediately admit to patients when they make mistakes would drastically reduce litigation claims.

Under the plan, which will be detailed by junior health minister Alex White next Tuesday, medics will be asked to sign up to a “candour” policy where they provide full details to patients when adverse incidents occur.