Written question asked by Tim Loughton (Conservative) on Monday, 17 December 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 15 January 2002. It was answered by Hazel Blears (Labour) on Tuesday, 15 January 2002 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many, and at what cost, injury compensation claims were made against the NHS as a result of non-medical accidents by (a) patients and (b) staff in 2001. - Inc figures. (Holding answer 8 January 2002).

Answer: Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many, and at what cost, injury compensation claims were made against the NHS as a result of non-medical accidents by (a) patients and (b) staff in 2001. [24353] Ms Blears: [holding answer 8 January 2002]: The National Health Service Litigation Authority offers an indemnity to national health service bodies against employer and public liability risks where the relevant incident occurred on or after 1 April 1999. The authority handles those claims which have a potential liability in excess of certain amounts (£10,000 for employers' liability and £3,000 for public liability). In the calendar year 2001 (data available to 6 December 2001) the authority was notified of 2,244 claims made by employees and 732 claims made by third parties (not all of whom will be patients). The total cost of these claims is not yet known as the majority have not yet been settled. The authority is however holding reserves of around £23 million for employers' liability and £6 million for public liability claims in respect of these claims.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 378 c255-6W;378 c269-70W; 24353
Session: 2001-02
Subjects: Compensation Costs Liability Injuries Employers' liability NHS Patients Staff
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk