A Medical Protection Society (MPS) survey of 600 GP members reveals that 88% of respondents believe they are more likely to be sued now than five years ago.1 MPS’ analysis of claims also shows that GPs are more likely to be sued now than ever before and a full-time UK GP is expected to be twice as likely to receive a claim from their work this year as they were just seven years ago.2
The findings come in the same week that Michael Wade, a former Lloyd’s of London insurance executive currently investigating public sector insurance schemes, questioned the affordability of clinical negligence claims to the NHS.3
The MPS survey also found:
- 35% of survey respondents had received a claim for clinical negligence during their medical career and 58% know a colleague who had.
- Of those who had received a claim, 39% received it in the last two years. This compares with 28% who had received a claim three to five years ago, 12% six to 10 years ago, 7% 11 to 15 years ago and 13% more than 15 years ago.
- Of those who believe GPs are more likely to be sued now than five years ago, 89% believe high patient expectations is the main reason, followed by the rise in media coverage of clinical negligence (88%) and workload making it difficult to provide the best care (72%).
Dr Rob Hendry, Medical Director at the Medical Protection Society said: “Unfortunately, GPs are more likely to be sued now than ever before. We know from our own analysis that a full-time UK GP is expected to be twice as likely to receive a claim from their work this year as they were just seven years ago”.
“Worryingly, over a typical career, the average full-time GP could now expect to receive two claims against them if our recent experience is indicative of the continuing future environment for claims against GPs.4 “Being sued can have a significant impact on the health of doctors, with 86% of GP survey respondents stating that their involvement in a claim impacted on their morale and 74% feeling it impacted on their confidence.
“We believe there are likely to be a number of contributing factors behind this increase in claims; the increasing complexity of care, enhanced patient expectations and a challenging and expensive legal environment.
“We are concerned about the impact the current claims environment will have on individual doctors, but also more widely on medicine. We know from recent figures that England needs 8,000 new full time equivalent GPs by 2020, and a fear of clinical negligence claims could further harm future recruitment drives.”5
More information
For further information or to arrange an interview please contact Shannon Darling, MPS Press Officer, on +44 (0) 20 7399 1319 or [email protected]
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