Revealed: The specialties with rocketing litigation costs

Litigation costs for specialties including intensive care, oncology and emergency medicine have rocketed by up to five times as much as they were before the pandemic, internal data obtained by HSJ reveals.

HSJ's data reveal costs for claims relating to intensive care, oncology, neurology, ambulances, ophthalmology and emergency care have increased – both for damages and legal costs – by significantly more than average.

The steepest cost rise was in intensive care, which saw the bill increase fivefold from £4.3m in 2019-20 to £23.7m in 2021-22.

Other specialisms which reported higher than average percentage increases were oncology, a 159% increase from £15m to £38.9m, and neurology, a 95% uplift from £18.4m to £36m.

Key findings from these reports included missed or delayed diagnosis, missing signs of deterioration, failure to recognise the significance of patients re-attending accident and emergency multiple times with the same problem, and communication issues.

Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “I’m extremely worried about the amount of money we’re spending on litigation… There’s a good reason we must not normalise an abnormal situation and we need to invest in an emergency care system which avoids these huge costs.”

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Source: HSJ, 23 June 2023