NHS promotes litigation?

Posted: 24/01/2012

The Health Secretary has banned 'no win no fee' claims organisations and lawyers from advertising in hospitals. Some newspapers have seized on this story, quite often wrongly linking this advertising to publicity about clinical negligence claims which have always been specifically excluded from this type of advertising.

NHS trusts are paid by these advertisers and sometimes receive a significant income from them. The news reports however forget that where a successful claim arises from a road traffic accident, the NHS also receives payment of treatment charges through the Department of Work and Pensions. For treatment without a hospital admission, a fee of £600 is charged, if an ambulance is involved a further £181 is payable and if an in-patient admission is necessary £737 is charged per day up to a maximum of £44,756.

Given that these fees are paid by the defendant or his insurer following a successful claim, it is very much in the financial interests of the NHS to encourage claims arising out of road traffic accidents.

These claims inevitably increase the cost of settlement to the detriment of car insurance premiums, and perhaps create a conflict of interest. 

Return to news headlines