The Department of Health has begun discussions with concerned parties about introducing a no-fault compensation scheme for babies born with cerebral palsy.
The move is part of a reform of the medical indemnification system, which will see common insurance for consultants, junior hospital doctors and midwives by the middle of next year.
At present, the three groups are insured by three different bodies, but the new "enterprise indemnity" system would mean that all hospital staff would be covered by a single insurance company.
Parties are being briefed about the proposals, and the Department has appointed a firm of specialists to help formulate the plan.
It is estimated that up to 90 per cent of cerebral palsy cases are not the result of complications in labour. But most defendants in such cases settle, although the High Court awarded £2.15 million in a case against the National Maternity Hospital last year.
The master of the NMH, Dr Declan Keane, called at that time for the establishment of a no-fault scheme under which the State would foot the bill for the care of CP children. Similar schemes already exist in Canada, New Zealand and a number of US states. Speaking to The Irish Times, he welcomed the moves being made by the Department.
The current adversarial system was detrimental to both the parents and the medical staff involved "and the people who always come out of it best are the lawyers," he said.
