LAWYERS KILLING HEALTHCARE IN BRITAIN, TOO

SUNDAY EXPRESS:

HEALTH chiefs have been forced to spend more than £2.7billion of tax- payer’s money in compensation claims.

A joint investigation into NHS litigation by the Sunday Express and the Conservatives shows payouts for NHS blunders cost every working person in Britain more than £15 a year.

The latest tally amounts to £2.71billion since Labour came to power.

The number of claims last year was a record, costing the taxpayer £312million, a 1,300 per cent rise since 1997.

And payouts will almost double next year thanks to more lawyers offering no-win, no-fee deals. Hospitals have been ordered to put aside £713million to pay for botched treatment.

Lawyers’ fees are spiralling: up from 22 per cent of payouts in the financial year 2005-6 to 33 per cent in the 12 months to April this year – earning them £103million.

THIS IS INTERESTING FOR TWO REASONS: IT SHOWS THAT THE NHS IS NOT BETTER THAN US HEALTHCARE, AND THAT LAWYERS THERE ARE JUST AS AWFUL AS THEY ARE HERE.

THE BRITS NEED TORT REFORM AS MUCH AS WE DO!