Over one third (34%) of all medical indemnity claims in the
public sector arose as a result of a possible error or negligence
in medical or surgical procedures.
These claims included failure to perform a procedure, having the
wrong procedure performed, having the wrong body site operated on
or treated, post-operative complications and failure of a
procedure.
These finding were released today by the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare (AIHW) in a new report, Medical indemnity
national collection (public sector): 2004-2005.
The report, the third of its kind by the AIHW, examines nearly
6,500 current, potential and finalised claims in the public sector
between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005.
'Other less common, but still significant, claims related to
diagnosis (21%) and treatment (15%),' said AIHW spokesperson Dr
Samantha Bricknell.
'The three specialty areas with the greatest number of claims
were obstetrics (18%), accident and emergency (15%) and general
surgery (11%)', she said.
Of all the claims examined, 58% related to adults, 19% to
children and 10% to babies less than one year of age. Fifty six per
cent of claims related to females.
Dr Bricknell said it was important to note that 'the report
represents a profile of medical indemnity claims data only - fault
or negligence on the part of the health care provider is not
necessarily established.'
During 2004-05 1,680 claims were finalised, of which two thirds
were for claims less than $100,000. In 27 cases payments exceeded
$500,000.
The average length of time it took to close a claim was 26
months, and court decisions were involved in 4% of finalised
claims.
Now in its fourth year, the Medical Indemnity National
Collection currently represents 85% of all claims made in the
public sector.
'This coverage is expected to improve again next year giving us
an even clearer picture of medical claims in Australia,' said Dr
Bricknell.
29 June 2006
Further information: Dr Samantha Bricknell,
AIHW, tel. 02 6244 1138
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. 61 2 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability of the Medical indemnity
national collection (public sector): 2004-2005 report.