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Claim firms still touting for business in our hospitals

Published 08/05/2007

Half of all hospitals flout Government guidelines by selling advertising space in their wards for ambulancechasing law firms, a Daily Mail investigation has found.

Personal injury solicitors are using posters and leaflets in NHS accident and emergency units to encourage patients to use their services to sue – often on a nowin, no-fee basis.

In 2004, the Government published guidance which said there was “no place” for such advertising, which raises “false expectations of large compensation payouts for minor injuries or that directly or indirectly promotes the bringing of frivolous claims”.

But the results of our survey show that this is being ignored.

The Daily Mail visited 43 hospitals and found that 22 – 51 per cent of those surveyed – were prominently displaying adverts for lawyers on the walls or allowing them to distribute leaflets.

Southampton General Hospital allows the Compensation Direct firm to have its own offices near the hospital’s main entrance, while another firm tells patients at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital that it can get them up to £20,000 for a broken leg.

One firm offers patients in Winchester, Hampshire, a ‘bedside’ legal consultation.

Some hospitals have entered into exclusive advertising deals with law firms. In return, the firms are not allowed to pursue medical negligence claims against the trust.

The Mail can also reveal that some trusts are approaching personal injury firms and offering them exclusive advertisements on their wards for £18,000 a year.

Critics last night described the practice as ‘outrageous’ and said cash-hungry trusts were effectively colluding with lawyers to get patients to file lawsuits.

Michael Summers, chairman of the Patients Association, said: “A hospital waiting room is a singularly inappropriate place for personal injury teams to advertise.

“I have heard that teams even go round to patients in their beds to try to drum up business. These people are at their most vulnerable – they are cross and in pain.

“It is at this time that lawyers try to encourage them that someone must be to blame.

“They may be persuaded to sign up for a case they will regret later if they have time to think about it. They don’t get time to read the small print.

“It is basically wrong that trusts are conniving in this. All these solicitors are interested in is seeing how much money they can make. They make a lot of money from people who manage to sue successfully.”

The Liberal Democrats’ health spokesman Norman Lamb, a former solicitor, said he was embarrassed by the lengths some lawyers would go to to make money.

He said: “It is outrageous that this practice should be continuing, three years after the Lord Chancellor said it shouldn’t be happening. These firms are preying on vulnerable patients.”

A spokesman for the British Medical Association said: “It’s a sad reflection on the financial state of the NHS that they feel they have no choice but to rely on these services to generate an income.’

A spokesman for Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS trust said:

“The NHS is going through challenging times financially and it is only good practice to review spending in each department.

“Hospitals have a duty to provide advice and information to patients and therefore trusts may consider appropriate and relevant sponsorship as a financially viable way of producing patient literature.”

However, a Health Department spokesman said: “Ministers are strongly opposed to advertising by claims management or other legal services within NHS premises. This can undermine the relationship of NHS staff and their patients.

“For this reason, we have put out clear guidance on advertising which we expect the NHS to follow.”

This article has been reprinted with permission of the Claims Standards Council

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