The insurance industry is failing to pay the NHS tens of millions of pounds in costs of patient care due to inadequate and outdated recovery legislation, warns specialist lawyers Moore Blatch.
The NHS is faced with a likely £3 billion overspend in the current financial year, and the lawyers believe that it’s unacceptable that legislation that has not been updated for over a decade means that insurers, employers who fail to protect their employee, or any other at-fault party only needs to cover £47,569 worth of in-patient costs incurred by the NHS. What’s worse; they are not liable for any out-patient costs.
Moore Blatch, which specialises in ensuring patients receive appropriate payments to reflect their financial loss from those responsible, or their insurers, believes it is wholly unacceptable that the NHS is having to pick up the bill.
For someone who has suffered a life changing injury, like those involved in the Alton Towers tragedy last year, the cost of a prosthetic limb alone can be in the region of £50,000, without taking into account the immediate urgent care or the ongoing rehabilitation costs.
Trevor Sterling, partner and expert in major trauma and personal injury law at Moore Blatch, comments: “The NHS is being asked to pick up the bill for negligence on behalf of employers and other third parties, many of whom have insurance that should cover this. The whole system needs urgent review, especially at a time when cash for the NHS is so desperately needed. At the very least, the NHS should be able to recover both inpatient and outpatient costs, not one or the other, and ideally the cap should be removed altogether.”
(Source: Moore Blatch)
