When Bernie O’Reilly’s husband Tony died during elective surgery for intestinal cancershe says she couldn’t understand what happened.

His death in 2006 left her dissatisfied with aspects of his care and raising many questions for the consultants who operated on him. After his inquest, which identified the cause of his death as an anastomotic leak, which is a major complication of colorectal surgery, she still felt that problems had been solved.

At this time, she considered litigation. “I had to get three expert reports from England. For me, the main issue was how Tony’s surgery was handled. I spent about 10,000 euros (on reports) but 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 sought compensation, I just wanted the truth,” she said.

In the end, Ms. O’Reilly stopped legal action because of the huge financial risk involved. There was, she said, the possibility that the family farm had been lost.

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

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

The society’s report, published in January, said that it takes an average of just over four years (1,462 days) to resolve a claim in Ireland, which is 14% longer than in South Africa (1,279 days) and 56 % longer than Hong Kong (940 days), UK (939 days) and Singapore (938 days).

The MPS urged the Government to provide early action protocols to help speed up clinical negligence claims.

These protocols would be guidelines, set out in legislation, that explain the steps a court expects parties to take before a claim can commence, with the intention of encouraging them to settle out of litigation.

( ‘Adverse’ approach to clinical negligence contributing to €4.1bn government billOpens in a new window )

Dr James Thorpe, deputy medical director at MPS, said the society was seeing “first-hand” the impact the “painfully slow claims process” was having on doctors’ mental wellbeing.

“Patients and family members are obviously also suffering because of the current system. No patient who suffers harm as a result of clinical negligence in Ireland should have to wait an unnecessarily long period of time to receive compensation, and no party involved in a claim should be dragged through a process that is longer than necessary.” , he said.

“With damaging effects on the mental wellbeing of doctors and patients, delays for patients receiving compensation and staggering legal costs impacting on the HSE and the cost of doctors’ compensation – the status quo is simply no longer sustainable.”

( Donnelly says €50m more 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, which represents patients in clinical negligence claims, said there were “lots of reasons” why these claims take longer to conclude in Ireland than elsewhere.

“If a client comes to me, it can take more than 12 weeks to get medical records from the HSE. And then by the time we finally have all the necessary documentation and we’re ready to apply to the High Court for a hearing date, there’s usually no data available for about 12 months,” she said.

“For example, I applied for an appointment in January 2024 and didn’t get an appointment until March 2025. It can often be two years before an initial hearing takes place.”

Ms O’Sullivan said taking a case involved “a huge financial investment for reports which can cost several thousands”.

“And most of the time they don’t seek 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 task force on the rising cost of health claims published a report that recommended, among other measures, the implementation of pre-action protocols and the establishment of a vaccine damage scheme.

The task force found that the estimated outstanding liability for healthcare claims in Ireland increased by almost two-thirds between 2018 and 2022, from €2.8 billion to €4.6 billion, and “could increase by multiples over the next two decades if not controlled”.

Furthermore, research conducted with people who have taken legal action in relation to 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 struggle”.

Minister of Health Stephen Donnelly welcomed the report and said it would set up a group to ensure the recommendations were implemented “without delay”.

Ms O’Reilly said the process of medical malpractice cases was “terribly stressful”, even though she withdrew her case.

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