HSE paid out over €2bn in medical negligence claims in five years

Estimated outstanding liability for the claims rose from €2.8bn in 2018 to €4.6bn in 2022.  File picture

The HSE paid out over €2bn in claims arising from medical negligence cases over a five-year period.

The estimated outstanding liability for such claims rose from €2.8bn in 2018 to €4.6bn in 2022.

Professor Rhona Mahony, chair of the working group tasked with examining the rising cost of health-related claims, warned that the cost of healthcare litigation is increasing at an unsustainable rate.

"At this rate, the €5bn [in outstanding liability] will become multiples of that over the coming decades," Prof Mahony said.

That money comes from the exchequer and is money that is diverted away from healthcare as the HSE ultimately repays the State Claims Agency, she said.

The major driver of the increased costs was not an increase in claims but an increase in the cost of individual claims, she explained, particularly the cost of damages in a very small number of catastrophic injuries, which are largely made up of birth injury resulting in cerebral palsy.

Rhona Mahony said the cost of healthcare litigation is increasing at an unsustainable rate. Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

These cases make up just 2% of claims but account for over 50% of the total cost.

The report offers a series of recommendations and steps to move towards reform, including faster and more efficient resolution of claims and a standardised approach to mass claims.

Nothing will happen overnight, said Prof Mahony, adding that the current medical legal system in Ireland is propagating a cycle of harm.

It is harming patients who have already been harmed. It is harming healthcare practitioners and it is harming society through its cost and unnecessary adversarial culture.

In completing the report, they consulted people who had directly experienced the process, including patients and families.

Prof Mahony said these people reported the experience as "triggering, retraumatising, jarring, insulting, shocking, horrible, and not fit for purpose".

The decision to sue was said to have been a difficult one to take and patients reported being reluctant to do so.

"But when they did, they did so because they needed information. They needed an explanation about what had happened and they very much wanted the acknowledgement and validation that this harm had occurred and that they had suffered," said Prof Mahony.

Patients wanted a sincere apology and hoped that by raising the alert, the health system would address the issue and prevent further harm, she said.

The report also looked at the human cost of claims and placed a focus on devising strategies that will prevent harm in clinical settings going forward.