Lawyers barred from advertising in hospitals in move to end compensation culture
Ambulance chasing lawyers are to be banned from hospital premises under new laws which block them from advertising their services or approaching families within NHS property.
Compensation lawyers barred from advertising in hospitals
The outright ban will come into effect from 1 February in a bid to clampdown on the spiraling number of NHS compensation claims, prompting draconian efforts to curtail their activities by choking off the supply of office space and advertising opportunities to law firms and claims management companies.
An NHS England spokesman commented: “Money spent defending speculative legal claims is money hospitals can’t then spend on looking after patients.
“That’s why legal firms who pursue the NHS should not advertise in or operate from our hospitals. From February, trusts are now prohibited from entering or renewing agreements with firms who want to sue them.
“Staying in hospital is often a traumatic experience, one that is made worse by lawyers soliciting patients or their families for business – a practice we are also calling on Trusts to do all they can to stop.”
In the year 2016/17 the NHS was hit by £1.7bn bill for clinical negligence with 36% of this figure accounted for by legal costs, according to published figures from NHS Resolution, as an American-style compensation culture takes hold in Britain.
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