State facing claims bill of €2.3bn

Director of the agency, Ciarán Breen said maternity services’ claims comprised 65% of the clinical negligence claims, amounting to €1.2bn of the overall figure for clinical negligence.

The agency manages personal injury, property damage and clinical negligence claims brought against certain state authorities.

Opening the agency’s annual conference on quality, patient safety, and clinical risk in Dublin Castle yesterday, Mr Breen said the rising cost of clinical negligence presented “a significant challenge”.

He said the situation had worsened since 2015 when a reduction in the rate of return on awards resulted in higher lump sums being made.

The assumed future real rate of return used in the past was 3%; now it is between 1% and 1.5%, depending on the case. Due to the lower rate of return, a claimant will need a bigger lump sum.

Mr Breen said it meant that the cost of a damages’ claim for an infant suffering a catastrophic brain injury would rise from €6.2m to €9.5m, a 35% jump.

“As you can imagine, that presents considerable challenges both for us and for Government,” he said.

This year the agency will pay an additional €35m in respect of cases which were settled before November 2015. The “catch-up” payments are to compensate injured victims for the difference between the two rates.

Mr Breen also emphasised the importance of healthcare institutions recording their adverse events on the national incident management system — NIMS.

“Reporting on NIMS in certain areas is not all that it should be,” he said.

“Data provides the evidence base to drive change and to make us aware of what is actually happening in our healthcare system.”

Mr Breen said good quality data mattered and reports that made good use of the data were critical.

Meanwhile, the Comptroller and Auditor General — the State’s financial watchdog — points out the number of claims managed by the agency had increased significantly since 2011.

The auditor’s latest annual report notes, at the end of last year, the agency was handling almost 8,900 claims, including around 1,800 claims in mass actions, both general and clinical.

In 2016, almost 2,300 claims were resolved, an increase of 24% over the previous year.

Awards and associated claims costs of the agency last year amounted to €256.2m, compared to €219.3m in 2015. All of the costs are recouped from the State authorities availing of the agency’s services.

The CAG, Seamus McCarthy, points out the estimated cost of settling outstanding claims was increasing. The liability at the end of last year was estimated by the agency at €2.2m, having more than doubled in the past five years.

Health sector bodies, including the HSE and Tusla, accounted for 87% of the estimated outstanding liability at the end of last year.

Last year, the agency settled 284 legal cost claims made by lawyers representing those taking legal action against State authorities. The claims, totalling €49.2m, were resolved at a cost of €27.2m, a 55% reduction.