This article is published as part of Capsticks’ Medical Malpractice Forward View 2022.

Analysis of the Covid-19 related claims we are handling reveals a slightly different picture to our inquest work. Delays to non-Covid treatment is the leading type of claim against NHS Trusts to date, followed by Hospital-Acquired Covid (HAC) and failure to treat Covid appropriately. NHS England’s policy decision to suspend all non-urgent elective NHS surgery in March 2020 had a significant knock-on effect on treatment delays. Private hospitals stepped in to help, so could face HAC claims themselves, although we have seen none so far. The central issue in claims for HAC is likely to be one of causation. We understand that ATE insurers are grappling with this issue when deciding whether to offer cover for Covid claims.

What this means for you: Infection control policies and procedures will be at the crux of HAC cases. Healthcare organisations should already be preserving and collating this core evidence for the Public Inquiry.

Medical Malpractice Forward View 2022 

This article is part of Capsticks’ Medical Malpractice Forward View 2022. 

Read the other articles featured in this publication below: 

• Spotlight on two liability decisions to watch out for in 2022
• Fixed recoverable costs in low value clinical negligence claims are on the horizon
• Concussion injury in elite sport will remain in the headlines
• Inquests: failures of care during the pandemic may be scrutinised more closely, but ‘following the science’ will likely continue to be the dominant theme on causation
• Procedures and policies, including national policy decisions, will be central to the defence of Covid-related claims
• The latest on the Covid-19 Public Inquiry
• Learning from the Paterson Inquiry: new legislation on regulation, co-operation between regulators and more
• The rollout of technology to support the delivery of care will continue apace, with data security coming into ever sharper focus
• There is likely to be an increase in the number of clinical trials
• Safety of medicines and medical devices will come under closer scrutiny

Get in touch

Aiming to be the firm of choice for medical malpractice insurers and healthcare providers, we advise and support on all aspect of medical malpractice claims and inquests. 

To discuss how any of these issues may affect your organisation, please get in touch with Majid Hassan, Sarah Bryant or Ed Mellor.