Hospital compo is on the rise

Medical negligence claims against hospitals in the West of Ireland has cost the Health Service Executive in excess of €125 million in the past five years – leading one Galway TD to blame overcrowding and staff shortages for the increase.

New figures reveal that the cost of paying compensation for personal injury claims and property damage has risen steadily year-on-year. Pay-outs for Saolta West/Northwest University Hospital Group, which includes Galway’s three public hospitals, amounted to just under €15 million for the first five months of this year – more than the total amount paid out in all of 2014 and 2015 combined.

Last year, the pay-outs amounted to €46.1 million for Saolta, which includes Merlin Park, UHG and Portiuncula. That’s more than double what was paid in 2017 (€19.2 million).

The figures were recorded on the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and was released by Health Minister, Simon Harris, following a Parliamentary Question tabled by Galway East Fianna Fáil TD, Anne Rabbitte.

The data shows that from 2014 to May 31 of this year, a total of €832,707,228 nationally has been paid out on clinical and general claims, which includes €125,492,876 in the West. The figures do not include legal or expert fees.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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