When Bernie O’Reilly’s husband Tony died during elective surgery for bowel cancershe said she didn’t understand what happened.

His death in 2006 left her unhappy with aspects of his care and she asked many questions of the consultants who operated on him. After her inquest, which identified the cause of her death as an anastomotic leak, a major complication of colorectal surgery, she still felt the issues were resolved.

That’s when she considered litigation. “I had to get three expert reports from England. For me, the main problem was the way Tony’s surgery was handled. I spent around €10,000 (for the reports), but there were still no answers.

After three years, “I didn’t feel like I was any closer to getting answers and there was no end in sight.” I never really sought compensation, I just wanted the truth,” she said.

Ultimately, Ms O’Reilly discontinued the legal action due to the enormous financial risk it posed. There was, she said, the possibility that the family farm had been lost.

“Lay people have a different opinion than doctors. There needs to be a safe place to have these discussions. But I’m still unhappy that I never got a resolution.

According to the Medical Protection Society (MPS), which provides compensation to 16,000 doctors and other healthcare professionals in Ireland, the average cost of a medical negligence lawsuit in Ireland is almost three times higher than in the UK, and cases take more than 50% longer to resolve.

The company’s report, published in January, said a claim in Ireland takes on average just over four years (1,462 days), 14 percent longer than in South Africa (1,279 days) and 56 percent more than in South Africa. Hong Kong (940 days), the United Kingdom (939 days) and Singapore (938 days).

MPS urged the Government to put in place pre-action protocols to help expedite clinical negligence claims.

These protocols would be guidelines, set out in legislation, explaining the steps a court expects parties to take before a claim can begin, with the aim of encouraging them to settle outside of litigation.

( “Contradictory” approach to clinical negligence contributing to €4.1 billion state billOpens in a new window )

Dr James Thorpe, MPS deputy medical director, said the society sees “first-hand” the impact of the “extremely slow claims process” on doctors’ mental wellbeing.

“Patients and their family members also suffer from the current system. No patient who has suffered harm due to clinical negligence in Ireland should have to wait an unnecessarily long time to receive compensation, and no party involved in the claim should be dragged into a process longer than necessary,” he said. he declared.

“With detrimental effects on the mental wellbeing of doctors and patients, delays in compensating patients and exorbitant legal costs impacting the HSE and the cost of compensating doctors – business as usual is simply no longer tenable. »

( Donnelly says extra €50m needed for clinical negligence cases due to rise in claims and settlementsOpens in a new window )

Scarlett O’Sullivan, senior associate solicitor at Callan Tansey, representing patients in clinical negligence claims, said there are “many reasons” why these claims take longer to succeed in Ireland than elsewhere.

“If a client comes to see me, it can take well over 12 weeks to get the medical records from the HSE. And then by the time we finally have all the necessary documents and are ready to apply for a hearing date at the High Court, there is usually no date available for about 12 months,” she said .

“For example, I requested a date in January 2024 and didn’t get a date until March 2025. Often, it can be two years before a first hearing even takes place.

Ms O’Sullivan said taking on a case involves a “huge financial investment for reporting, which can cost many thousands”.

“And most of the time, they don’t ask for compensation. They just want answers. Or they say they don’t want another family to go through this,” she said.

In recent weeks, an interdepartmental working group on the rising cost of health-related claims released a report also recommending, among other measures, the implementation of pre-action protocols and the establishment of a vaccine compensation system.

The task force found that the estimated outstanding healthcare claims in Ireland increased by almost two thirds between 2018 and 2022, from €2.8 billion to €4.6 billion, and “could increase several times over the next two decades if nothing is done.”

Additionally, research with people who have taken legal action for medical negligence has illustrated the human cost, with participants describing the process as “triggering, re-traumatizing, shocking, insulting, shocking, horrible, unfit for purpose and a battle “.

Minister of Health Stephen Donnelly He welcomed the report and said he would establish a group to ensure the recommendations were implemented “without delay”.

Ms O’Reilly said the process for medical negligence cases is “terribly stressful”, even though she withdrew her case.

“You are hemorrhaging money. Time is constantly passing. There is human suffering for everyone, the family, the doctors. There must be an easier way. There has to be a shorter, more compassionate way.