A Rise in Medical Negligence Claims Due to Longer NHS Waiting Times Warns the National Audit Office

A knock on effect of the increase in NHS waiting times may be the increase in medical negligence claims.

The National Audit Office published the “NHS Waiting Times for Elective and Cancer Treatment” https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/NHS-waiting-times-for-elective-and-cancer-treatment.pdf which documented that the waiting times nearly doubled between March 2013 and November 2018, growing from 2.7 million to 4.2 million. The number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks grew astonishingly from 153,000 to 528,000.

The report states that “Long waiting times may lead to an increased risk of more negligence claims against the NHS…Almost 40% of such negligence claims against the NHS are related to failures or delays in diagnosis or treatment.

The Report makes for an interesting read but reinforces what in reality we already know. The current NHS cannot cope with the demand placed up on it and unless further investment is made to cope with the demand, more mistakes are inevitably going to happen.

Gregory Abrams Davidson LLP specialise in obtaining compensation for client’s who have sustained injury as a result of Clinical Negligence. We have many years of experience dealing with claims against hospitals (both NHS and Private), dentists and general practitioners. Examples include claims arising as a result of negligently performed operations, misdiagnosis of cancer, injuries arising as a result of negligently performed cosmetic surgery and injuries sustained at birth.

We have offices  in Liverpool City Centre, , , Allerton and Golders Green London.  If you would like to enquire about a potential Clinical Negligence claim, contact a member of our Liverpool Team on 0151 733 3353 or London Team on 020 8209 0166. Calls can be taken 24 hours a day or e-mail us at [email protected]