The information requested by the Deputy relating to the recording of adverse incidents has been referred to the HSE for direct reply to the Deputy.
The State Claims Agency (SCA) has a statutory remit to manage personal injury claims on behalf of Delegated State Authorities including the Health Service Executive.
The State Claims Agency has provided me with the information set out below regarding the number of health service-related claims that have been lodged with the State Claims Agency for each of the past five years and the amount in compensation that has been paid out by the State as a result of claims lodged against the health service. I have been informed by the SCA that this information has been extracted from the National Incident Management System (NIMS).
The report below provides information on claims and damages for the General Indemnity Scheme and the Clinical Indemnity Scheme, in respect of Healthcare i.e. all Health Service Executive and Voluntary Healthcare locations on NIMS. Private Healthcare locations are excluded from this report.
Paid damages, relates to payments made in each of the specified years, and therefore may relate to claims received in the years prior to 2018.
Claims Received
Table 1 below shows all Healthcare claims received between 2018 and 2022.
|
|
2018
|
2019
|
2020
|
2021
|
2022
|
Total
|
|
Claims Received
|
2,080
|
2,226
|
2,039
|
1,835
|
1,858
|
10,038
|
Table 1: The number of Healthcare claims received 2018 – 2022 as of 30/04/2023.
Paid Damages
Table 2 shows all damages payments made on healthcare claims between 2018 and 2022.
|
|
2018
|
2019
|
2020
|
2021
|
2022
|
Total
|
|
Paid Damages
|
€229,831,286
|
€279,518,656
|
€274,882,433
|
€345,710,567
|
€351,810,953
|
€1,481,753,895
|
Table 2 : The amount paid in damages between 2018 and 2022 for Healthcare claims as of 30/04/2023.
Criteria used
• Location at Level 1: Healthcare.
• This report is correct as of 30/04/2023.
Claims Received
• Claim Create Date: 2018 – 2022.
• Coverage excludes PDR.
Compensation Paid
• Transaction Report Date: 2018 – 2022.
• Transaction Payment Type: Damages.
Definitions:
National Incident Management System (NIMS):
Incidents (which include claims) are reported using the “National Incident Management System”, hosted by the State Claims Agency (SCA). An incident can be a harmful Incident (Adverse Event), no harm incident, near miss, dangerous occurrence (reportable circumstance) or complaint.
Claim Create Date:
Official date that the claim was created on NIMS. If a record is first logged to the system as a claim, the "Claim Create Date" and "Create Date" will be the same, however, if a record was once an incident and subsequently transitioned into a claim, the "Claim Create Date" will differ from the "Create Date", with the "Create Date" representing the date the incident was first recorded, and the "Claim Create Date" representing the date the record transitioned to a Claim.
Transaction Reporting Date:
This refers to the date that payments were issued. These payments include damages, legal fees and other expert fees.
Claim:
A claim refers to notification of intention to seek compensation for personal injury and/or property damage where it is alleged the State was negligent. The application may be in the form of a letter of claim, an InjuriesBoard.ie application, or a written/oral request.
Damages:
Damages payments include special and general damages payments.
