It has long been a truism in this country that the ordinary citizen cannot seek justice because they cannot afford it, writes Terence Cosgrave
And now a new survey from the Medical Protection Society (MPS) has illustrated that even if you can afford it, medical justice is slow – mush slower than in other countries, and the delay and trauma of that is often devastating for both the patients and the doctors involved.
It is a ‘brutal process’ for both patient and doctor, as was pointed out in the report by Dr Rob Hendry, medical director at the MPS. For doctors, it puts their lives on hold as they must deal with the possible ramifications.
The threat of being struck off the register, or simply getting a bad reputation based on the a case simply being taken can be devastating. And patients – many of whom will be suffering potential life-changing injuries have to deal with a legal system that is ponderous and frustrating. Which is just about the last thing they need at that point.
A survey was conducted of 200 Irish doctors who almost unanimously agreed that legal reform was needed to speed up claims. Eighty-eight per cent of doctors worried about the time they would have to spend defending claims, while 91% were worried about their mental health as a result of a claim being made against them.
Forty-four per cent of doctors are thinking of leaving the profession due to the issue – particularly the length of time and mental trauma these cases cause here.
The MPS looked at data from the ten-year period leading up to December 2022. They found that a medical claim in Ireland costs almost twice what it does in the UK (€27,449 as opposed to €11,911), but the real
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