Medical negligence court cases taking almost five years to resolve

The average time of maternity services-related cases increased by 39% from almost four years in 2012 to almost 5.4 years in 2021. Picture: iStock

Families now have to spend longer in court fighting medical negligence cases than 10 years ago, with some cases taking as many as 5.4 years to process, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) report shows.

The average time needed to finalise a clinical claim has increased from 4.26 years to 4.97 years or by 17% between 2012 and 2021.