Current Irish medicolegal landscape: an unsustainable trajectory

Abstract

A number of outstanding clinical claims that are yet to be resolved as well as their associated estimated costs are at a record high in Ireland. By the end of 2022, the Irish government face 3875 active clinical claims which are expected to cost €3.85 billion in total. This does not account for future claims yet to be brought. The financial burden will be borne by the Irish healthcare system which is already facing unprecedented pressures on its services and staff. If current trends continue, the opportunity costs of the current medicolegal landscape will impact the future provision of healthcare. Aside from the financial consequences, clinical claims have numerous negative impacts on all parties involved. Gaining an understanding as to why claims and costs continue to increase relies on access to, and analysis of high-quality patient safety data, including learning from previous litigation. Addressing the causal and perpetuating factors requires efficient implementation of evidence-based recommendations through engagement with stakeholders, including the public. It is necessary to continuously assess the implementation of recommendations as well as measure their impact. This is to ensure that novel efforts from this point onwards do not suffer the same fate as many previous recommendations that, because of a lack of follow-on research, appear to go no further than the page of the report they are written. Action is required now to change the course of the currently unsustainable trajectory of the Irish medicolegal landscape.

Keywords: Health policy; Incident reporting; Risk management; Significant event analysis, critical incident review.

Figure 1

Number of outstanding clinical claims and associated estimated outstanding liability at the end of each year 2013–2022.