28th June 2018
Simon Thomas AM
Chair of Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Bill
National Assembly for Wales
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff
CF99 1NA
Dear Mr Thomas,
Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Bill
Following your letter of the 17th April 2018 after the Finance Committee’s recommendations, I write as Director of ISCAS to provide you with information on the cost of complaints within the private healthcare sector. Your understanding of the cost to the private provider is correct.
You requested the total number of all Stage Three adjudications of Welsh ISCAS members and the average cost to the provider per adjudication (adjudicators fees and any goodwill payment) over the last three years. There were only two cases. Please see below for details.[1]
ISCAS adjudications for Welsh Independent Providers:
There has been only one Stage Three (Adjudication) case where the complaint involved both private and public sectors, and that was at Spire Cardiff.
.
Example A
Costs to the Provider Spire Cardiff
Seven days of senior managers time collating medical records, interviews and investigation recording @£250 per day £1750
Adjudicator charge £4200
Expert witness charge £1625
ISCAS Case Administration charge £250
Sub-total of direct cost £7825
The Goodwill payment to patient was within the parameters of ISCAS Goodwill Payment guide previously discussed and was £2,250.00.
Example B
For comparison Costs to the Provider St Joseph’s Hospital Newport of an ISCAS adjudication in a simpler case
One and a half days of Senior Manager’s time collating medical records, interviews and investigation recording at @£250[2] per day £375.00
Adjudicator charge £728.40
ISCAS case administration charge £250.00
Sub-total of direct costs for £1353.40
The Goodwill payment to the patient was within the parameters of ISCAS Goodwill Payment guide policy previously discussed and was £100.00.
Each private healthcare provider pays an annual subscription charge to ISCAS, which becomes an element in their costs of meeting complaints.
Additional information
St Joseph’s Hospital, Newport. This case was started in August 2017 and the Decision was issued in December 2017.
Spire Cardiff: The case came to ISCAS in June 2015 and concluded in June 2016. The reason it took so long to complete was difficulty in finding an expert for the case (requests were originally sent in December 2015 and an expert was not appointed until April 2016).
Please let me know if you require any further information.
Kind regards,
ISCAS Director
Sally Taber