On 1st October 2024 the Personal Injuries (NHS Charges) (Amounts) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2024 came into force, which increased NHS charges that can be recovered to a revised maximum of £62,272.
I set out below a table of the charges that can be recovered under the Regulation which can also be viewed here: Amendment of Schedule 1 to the 2015 Regulations
This Regulation means that if you have suffered an injury as the result of the action of someone else which requires hospital treatment and you bring a personal injury claim against that person who is insured then in a successful claim the at-fault insurer must reimburse the NHS up to the maximum under the below schedule. This would be a separate payment by the insurer to the NHS and in addition to any compensation paid.
The principle is to ensure the NHS is reimbursed where costs are incurred as a result of someone else’s negligence which seems right given the NHS is funded by all of us. As such in every personal injury claim there is a mechanism for the insurer responsible to notify the NHS to ensure the correct amount is repaid.
Whilst a personal injury claim is brought to enable the injured person to have access to interim payments, privately funded rehabilitation and compensation to help rebuild their lives it also triggers the mechanism for the NHS to be refunded. It, therefore, is important to ensure that in those cases the at-fault insurer discharges its responsibilities to the NHS.
Notwithstanding the NHS costs of treatment for serious injury such as brain injury, spinal cord or amputation are likely to run into very substantial sums the Regulation sets a cap of £62,272 which the at fault insurer must repay in respect of those NHS treatment costs. This is a surprisingly low cap.
It is also notable by its absence that the Air Ambulance does not feature at all in the schedule. The Air Ambulance is operated throughout the UK by 21 charities solely dependent upon donations yet are typically despatched to an incident where someone has life changing injuries, for instance road traffic collision, and needs to be taken to a specialist Major Trauma Centre for urgent treatment.
I would encourage the NHS to explore the following:-
- Accurately record the cause of hospital admission to identify those cases where there is likely to be a personal injury claim (such as road traffic collision) and seek to identify the at fault insurer to enable a recovery of their treatment costs as mandated. This is something every NHS Trust should ensure is done.
- To seek a further amendment to the Regulation to enable a proper recovery of the actual costs of treatment involved.
- To seek to include within the Regulation a provision for the recovery of costs incurred by the Air Ambulance.
If you have suffered a serious injury as a result of an accident then please ensure you confirm to your instructed solicitor the identity of the ambulance service as well as the hospital attended to give the best possible chance of the NHS recovering from the at fault insurer the cost of their charges.
How Moore Barlow can help
Matthew Claxson is a Partner in the Personal injury team at Moore Barlow who are a UK leading Personal injury firm. If you have been seriously injured or bereaved as a result of a road traffic collision then contact us to explore a legal claim on Freephone 0800 157 7611 or claim@moorebarlow.com. Our team acts for clients who have suffered serious injury or bereavement and we help those clients to access rehabilitation, receive interim payments and compensation to help them rebuild their lives.