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NHS may have to pay out £2.8bn in negligence cases

BMJ 2000; 320 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.320.7230.272/b (Published 29 January 2000) Cite this as: BMJ 2000;320:272
  1. Clare Dyer, legal correspondent
  1. BMJ

    The House of Commons public accounts committee is “appalled” that the NHS has at least 15 000 cases of clinical negligence on its books, and the total could be much more, according to its report last week on NHS financial management.

    The report on the 1997–1998 NHS expenditure for England revealed that £79 million ($126 million) had been paid out that year on negligence cases, with outstanding liabilities estimated at £2.8 billion.

    The MPs' watchdog on public spending said that such cases represented a “tragedy” for the people involved and the figure for outstanding …

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