NHS To Recover £150 Million In Insurance Claims

New rules allowing the NHS to claim back money for treating people who have been paid personal injury compensation could see more than £150 million being put back into patient care, Andy Burnham announced today.

The NHS Injury Costs Recovery (ICR) scheme means that for the first time ever, the NHS will be able to recover costs from insurance companies for treating patients in all cases where personal injury compensation is paid. Hospitals are already able to recover the costs of treating people injured in road traffic accidents (RTA) where they have successfully claimed compensation for their injuries.

NHS costs are payable by the insurer that pays the compensation. Since the RTA scheme came into operation it recovers around £115 million per year for the NHS.

Andy Burnham said:

"Although this scheme will undeniably raise useful additional sums of money for hospitals it is not simply about raising more cash. It is based on the legal rights of the NHS and the responsibilities of those to blame. We hope it will act as an additional impetus to improving health and safety.

"This policy will encourage employers to take steps to prevent employees being injured and when implemented should increase the total recouped each year to around £300m for the NHS. The scheme will not introduce any more extra regulations for businesses and will be based on the current RTA scheme.

"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. Individual hospitals will now be able to recover the costs and decide where they want to reinvest that money to improve services they want."