Winter crisis and staff shortages could lead to NHS compensation claims

The usual, but seemingly worsening, winter crisis and staff shortages could lead to an increase in NHS compensation claims.

At the end of the day, victims of medical negligence are entitled to justice. If your life is turned upside down and you’re left with permanent problems and unable to work, you need to make a claim. It’s the only way to try and have some form of pre-incident normality, and compensation goes a long way.

It should be the case that NHS compensation claims stem from the odd error every now and then. However, continual funding problems could cause a surge in incidents; especially at this time of the year.

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Are poor NHS systems endangering patients?

Poor and outdated NHS systems may be endangering patients as calls for the public health service to catch-up to the 21^st century grow.

There have been a few NHS systems issues recently that have caused havoc. Last year’s WannaCry data breach caused huge problems for the NHS and for patients. Operations were cancelled, and services were closed. It all happened because the ransomware used in the attack targeted older systems. Older systems are often not as secure and no longer have patches available.

That’s just one example of poor NHS systems endangering patient safety. There are more.

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Ongoing NHS staff problems threaten patient safety

The ongoing NHS staff problems threaten patient safety, and the government need to act to avoid unnecessary litigation.

In an ideal world, we would have next to no need for victims of medical negligence to make claims for personal injury compensation. This can be achieved through a well-resourced and efficiently functioning national health service. But as we continue to see NHS staff problems to the point where it’s being seen as a “national emergency”, we’re likely going to see higher volumes of claims.

It really is a vicious cycle that needs to be stopped.

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NHS staff shortages costing £1.5bn in temporary staff

According to recent research conduct by the Open University, NHS staff shortages are apparently costing the taxpayer around £1.5bn a year in temporary staff.

With the Royal College of Nursing saying there’s around 40,000 nursing vacancies, and widespread shortfalls in staff across the country, the cost of plugging the rota gaps is putting an even greater financial strain on the NHS funding situation. It’s thought that around half a billion pounds could be saved if these shortages were plugged with permanent staff instead of temps.

This all makes for worrying reading.

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NHS may be heading for a summer crisis after the recent winter dilemma

According to experts, the NHS may be heading for a summer crisis after the recent winter crisis that has seen the healthcare sector stretched to dangerous levels.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has reportedly claimed that the performance of the NHS in the coming summer months is set to be as bad as it was over winter, where the NHS was faced with increasingly high levels of admissions.

If the NHS is set for a summer crisis, patients’ health – and lives – may well be at risk.
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