The State Claims Agency (SCA) has a statutory remit to manage personal injury claims, including claims in respect of clinical negligence, on behalf of Delegated State Authorities (DSA’S) to include the Health Service Executive. The SCA’s claims management objective is, while acting in the best interest of taxpayers in matters of personal injury and property damage litigation, to act fairly, ethically and compassionately in its dealings with people who have suffered injuries and/or damage and who take legal actions against the State or State bodies, and their families.
The SCA remains committed to resolving cases relating to CervicalCheck in line with the principles outlined by the Government, expediting resolution of these cases in a sensitive manner, working co-operatively with the co-defendant laboratories, utilising mediation wherever possible and placing a high priority on treating the people who have made the claims, and their families, with dignity and compassion.
The SCA has provided a report, showing all active and potential claims currently being managed by it for the National Screening Service on the National Incident Management System (NIMS)
This request for claims information is broader than cancer misdiagnosis claims which have recently been reported in previous parliamentary questions. It includes clinical and personal injury ‘general’ claims which can relate to service users, staff and members of the public, as set out in the definitions below.
This report is correct as of 23/07/2018. It is broken down into two sections.
(i) To ask the Minister for Finance the cases the State Claims Agency is dealing with in relation to the various cancer screening programmes; the stage each case is at by programme;
The SCA has 59 cases under active management (54 active claims, 5 potential claims) with respect to the national screening programmes. Of those, 10 are associated with BreastCheck, 49 are associated with CervicalCheck and 0 are associated with BowelScreen. These cases are both clinical and non-clinical (general) in nature and include cancer misdiagnosis claims.
Table 1: National Screening Service Active and Potential Claims
|
Screening Programme
|
Clinical/General
|
CM Status
|
Grand Total
|
|
Breast Check
|
Clinical
|
Claim under investigation
|
3
|
|
Breast Check
|
Clinical
|
Claim Litigation
|
4
|
|
Breast Check
|
General
|
Claim under investigation
|
1
|
|
Breast Check
|
General
|
Claim Litigation
|
2
|
|
Total
|
-
|
-
|
10
|
|
Cervical Check
|
Clinical
|
Potential Claim Alerted to CM for Review
|
1
|
|
Cervical Check
|
Clinical
|
Potential Claim under CM Review
|
3
|
|
Cervical Check
|
Clinical
|
Claim Under Investigation
|
30
|
|
Cervical Check
|
Clinical
|
Claim Litigation
|
1
|
|
Cervical Check
|
Clinical
|
Trial
|
2
|
|
Cervical Check
|
Clinical
|
Claim Conclusion Started
|
6
|
|
Cervical Check
|
General
|
Potential Claim under CM Review
|
1
|
|
Cervical Check
|
General
|
Claim Under Investigation
|
5
|
|
Total
|
-
|
-
|
49
|
|
Bowel Screen
|
Clinical
|
N/A
|
0
|
|
Bowel Screen
|
General
|
N/A
|
0
|
|
Total
|
-
|
-
|
0
|
|
Grand Total
|
-
|
-
|
59
|
