In brief
The NHS could be able to claw back more than £150m from insurance companies for treating people who have been paid personal injury compensation, under the NHS injury costs recovery scheme which came into operation on 29 January 2007. The total cost to the NHS in treating personal injury cases other than road traffic accidents (RTAs) is estimated to be in the region of £170m–£190m. Currently, hospitals recover costs amounting to about £115m per year under a separate scheme for treating patients injured in RTAs where compensation has been successfully claimed. Department of Health minister Andy Burnham says: “The scheme will not introduce any more extra regulations for businesses...it is unacceptable that taxpayers have to pay for the medical treatment of someone injured at work simply because employers fail to take adequate steps to protect their workforce.”
