ABSTRACT
The previous chapters indicate that there is a general public understanding, and a perception among healthcare professionals, that the number of claims involving medical errors is rising. Despite numerous assertions supporting this view, there are some commentators who consider that current evidence indicates that suggestions of a litigation crisis in healthcare in the UK may be unfounded 1 and that there is a wide chasm between the perception of the public and the reality of the situation. In terms of personal injuries claims as a whole, there is strong evidence that there is indeed a widely held belief that the UK has developed a society in which people are making false claims for compensation. 2 The history of the rise in the volume of claims has been considered in Chapter 2, against the background of a growing consumer rights culture and the developing NHS. The alleged role of the media in perpetuating the notion of malpractice litigation escalating out of control, and the true extent to which litigation concerning medical error is increasing, will be examined in the following chapter. Over the past decade serious articles in heavy-weight newspapers have carried headlines such as ‘The litigation bug brings Britain down in a fever of greed’, 3 claiming that there is a litigation epidemic that has forced public sector organisations, including the NHS, to adopt defensive practises that undermine their efficiency. This chapter will focus on the gap between myth and reality within what is perceived to be the current compensation culture. It is possible that some organisations have an interest in promoting the view that the levelling in the number of claims is an indication that there is no compensation culture in the UK, and that the law should be reformed, while others stand to gain from asserting that claims are continuing to rise. The chapter will consider whether or not lawyers, claims farmers, the healthcare professions, the insurance industry, big business, politicians, the Government, or the media are responsible for perpetrating misapprehensions.
