Public Consultation on Health Claim Costs

Request for Submissions to the Interdepartmental Working Group to examine the rising cost of health-related claims and consider mechanisms to reduce costs.

Government, in January 2023, approved the establishment of an Interdepartmental Working Group to examine the rising cost of health-related claims and consider mechanisms to reduce costs. The Group will examine the rising cost of clinical negligence claims in the health system, with a particular focus on high value claims, in an effort to identify measures that could be put in place to reduce future costs. The Group is chaired independently by an expert healthcare professional, Dr Rhona Mahony, and is comprised of membership from across key government departments and agencies.

The Chair is inviting submissions from interested persons or parties in relation to the work of the Group.

The broad areas to be pursued by the Group will be to:

1.Assess the reasons why costs of claims are continuing to rise;

2.Examine best international practice in the area of health-related claims;

3.Develop a plan to implement risk management and other initiatives to reduce the occurrence of adverse incidents, particularly in the category of high value claims (>€4m), that could improve outcomes and reduce costs in the future (consider engagement with, inter alia, the National Neonatal Encephalopathy Action Group, which is a collaboration between SCA, NPSO and HSE and is examining strategies to mitigate risk relating to preventable birth injuries);

4.Recommend measures to address patient concerns following incidents, (e.g., disclosure procedures, trauma counselling, provision of supports) that will reduce the need for patients to initiate legal proceedings. In considering this, the group should give consideration to those measures suggested by Dr. Scally in his final implementation review report published in November 2022.

5.Receive updates on the implementation of the recommendations set out in the Report of the “Expert Group to Review the Law of Torts and the Management of Clinical Negligence Claims” (the ‘Meenan Report’), and Civil Justice reform measures being undertaken in the Department of Justice where relevant to the issue of reducing the cost of HSE related claims and identify actions to accelerate these reforms and maximise their impact on health claims;

6.Examine the health system’s involvement in the claims process, in particular its role in the provision of evidence/medical records in the course of discovery with a view to streamlining processes that could reduce the administrative cost of claims, including but not limited to legal costs;

7.Consider the policy and health system approach to Mass claims, including examining whether there is scope for the department/HSE to improve or standardise its approach when dealing with calls for redress and inquiries.

Submissions should be sent solely in electronic form to HealthClaimsGroup@health.gov.ie by Thursday 6 July 2023 at the latest. This date is a strict deadline for receipt of submissions.

Submissions must be no longer than 5,000 words. Submissions must state, in the subject line of the email, the Term(s) of Reference which is addressed as per the list (1) – (7) above. Submissions may address more than one Term of Reference. Please note that submissions may be published in the future.

More information about the Interdepartmental Working Group.