Priced out of medicine

Rising demand for services, a blame culture and a recruitment crisis have fuelled soaring indemnity premiums for doctors who simply want to practise medicine and are doing so in a complex and demanding environment. For how long can costs spiral out of control?  Practising in a perfect storm of slumping resource, rocketing demand and a vast recruitment crisis seems like a tough enough task for GPs. But on top of the relentless strain, doctors are being hit by a rapid rise in medical negligence claims, which means indemnity premiums have rocketed — and concerns that the compensation culture could impact on patient care are growing. While lawyers, whose alluring adverts stand proudly in hospitals and minor injuries units, stand to profit, GPs are left to foot a bill that has risen between 10 and 50 per cent during the past four years to anything from £7,000 to £20,000 a year, despite income shrinking and exhaustion rising. One of the UK’s three main medical defence organisations has revealed it has paid more than £100m out in £1m-plus claims alone during the past three years. The MDU (Medical Defence Union) says that figure heralds a staggering threefold increase from a decade ago — with experts pointing to a culture in which patients believe there must be someone to blame for a mistake, coupled with an increase in complex work and conditions and a massive demand for services.   ‘Obscene’ fees The problem has left ...
Source: BMA News - Category: UK Health Source Type: news