The
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has suggested that the NHS's multi-billion pound
negligence bill could be cut by apologising to patients and mounting a vigorous
defence against bogus claims. The minister was commenting after the NHS
Litigation Authority, the body that oversees claims made against the health
service, released figures disclosing that half of the cases it faces are
rejected because they are "without merit", a figure which has risen
by a third in two years. The number of claims faced by the NHS this year is
expected to rise by a fifth to about 12,000.
(source: The Daily Telegraph)
