The latest figures for compensation in the NHS indicate that the bill for hospitals in Scotland was £26 million last year, up 80 per cent on the year before. However, half of that total was the result of just 3 high value cases.

Cabinet Secretary for Health, Nicola Sturgeon stated that the high bill was down to a lack of accountability for staff. Where mistakes occur, staff are not usually held to account – even in the case of fatalities. The Scottish Government hope that the Patients Right Bill may alleviate some of the problems once it is introduced.

Good to see that the Government are not proposing “tort reform” as a solution, as is the case in the USA.