Health workers may be due extra payouts
Health workers may be due extra payouts
The British Medical Association (BMA) says an NHS work-related injury and ill-health compensation scheme has been under-paying some claimants. It is advising any member who has received compensation for an injury at work since 1972 to check they are receiving their full entitlement. BMA says under-payments in some cases could run to tens of thousands of pounds. The advice comes after the Department of Health announced the results of an inquiry which revealed 'anomalies with the administration' of the NHS Injury Benefits Scheme in England and Wales, with 40 per cent of the nearly 24,000 cases reviewed affected by errors. The review identified that: Since 1972, injury benefits due to some NHS pension scheme members have been incorrectly adjusted; between 1985 and 1998, incorrect eligibility criteria were used; and since 2002 some decisions have been made without appropriate legal authority. The scheme, which is far superior to the equivalent DWP industrial injuries benefit system and which is linked to the NHS pensions scheme, covers staff for accidents wholly attributable to their NHS work, such as needlestick and other injuries, occupational dermatitis and other occupational diseases and attacks by patients. The review covered all 23,735 cases on the scheme administrators' books, and identified 9,273 cases affected by errors. In some cases, staff will be entitled to a new settlement, and the government has acknowledged that some may have been underpaid by as much as £90,000. Dr Andrew Dearden, chair of the BMA pensions committee, said: 'The fact that people who were already struggling with potentially life-changing injuries have not had the level of financial support to which they were entitled is unacceptable. NHS staff deserve to have their injury benefits scheme handled with the highest level of expertise and we are extremely disappointed to learn of this potentially serious underpayment. We're urging anyone who may have been underpaid to contact the NHS Pensions agency.' In 1991, Hazards magazine described the NHS injuries benefit scheme as the 'NHS's best kept secret', revealing many eligible health service workers were not been told of their entitlement or were wrongly being denied payouts when they claimed. The magazine urged health service workers injured or made ill by their work to make claims.
- BMA news release. Guide to the NHS Industry Benefits Scheme [pdf].
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