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Report on the Road Traffic Act 1999, for the financial year ending 31 March 2001
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Last modified date:8 February 2007
The Road Traffic (NHS Charges) Act 1999 came into force on 5 April 1999 and introduced a new, centralised system for the collection of charges for hospital treatment in England, Scotland and Wales following a road traffic accident. This is the report on the second year of the scheme.
Background on the scheme
NHS charges are levied when: a person is involved in a road traffic accident and as a result receives examination or treatment at an NHS hospital and that person subsequently claims and receives compensation in respect of the injuries sustained in the accident.
The charges are paid by the compensator who makes the payment of personal injury compensation and, under the new system, are collected by the Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, the Scottish Minister and the Welsh Assembly Secretary. The money collected is transferred directly to the hospitals providing treatment on a monthly basis.
Monitoring the Performance of the Compensation Recovery Unit
The Compensation Recovery Unit provides the Department of Health with monthly management information statistics which are used for forecasting and monitoring performance. The table below gives some of the information provided at year end:
April 2000 to March 2001
Total number of new claims for compensation following a road traffic accident | 394,271 |
|---|---|
With NHS care | 210,451 (53.4%) |
Without NHS care | 178,940 (45.4%) |
Not known | 4,880 (1.2%) |
Average time to settle a motor insurance claim | 552 days (approx 18 months) 462 days (approx 15 months) |
| Total number and percentage of cases with admission to hospital (in-patient treatment) | 40,792 (9.15%) |
| Total number and percentage of cases without admission to hospital but with treatment (out-patient) | 404,833 (90.85%) |
| Average recovery for in-patient treatment | £1,978 |
| Average recovery for out-patient treatment | £340 |
The Compensation Recovery Unit and Department of Health have set up a NHS Customer Relations Panel involving road traffic liaison officers from a number of NHS Trusts throughout England, Scotland and Wales. These regular meetings are held to help CRU provide the best level of service to the NHS. In addition CRU undertook a customer survey which was sent to the NHS in December. The feedback from the survey was very positive about the service provided by CRU.
Amounts Recovered and paid to NHS Trusts
The Compensation Recovery Unit recovered and paid over £75 million to NHS Trusts in England Scotland and Wales last year. This was more than double the amount collected last year when the scheme was in the process of settling in. The table below gives the total amounts collected per month:
April 2000: £3,898,658
May 2000: £6,460,664
June 2000: £6,497,129
July 2000: £5,471,074
August 2000: £5,782,239
September 2000: £6,336,618
October 2000: £6,154,066
November 2000: £8,640,636
December 2000: £4,474,512
January 2001: £8,063,444
February 2001: £5,723,250
March 2001: £8,345,359
Total: £75,847,649
Amounts identified as potentially owing to Trusts
The NHS charge does not become payable by the insurer unless and until an associated payment of personal injury compensation is made. As the preliminary work can be carried out some time before this happens NHS hospitals are aware of income which is due to them some time before it arrives. During the course of the year an estimated £127,675,552 has been identified as potentially owing to NHS trusts. This money will be released to trusts if and when the underlying insurance claims are settled.
Costs of recovery
The Departments of Health, Scottish Executive and the National Assembly for Wales between them contributed £1.238m to the running costs of the Compensation Recovery Unit in 2000/01 as follows: Department of Health £1.065m; Scottish Executive £0.11m and the National Assembly for Wales £0.063m.
Contact:
Mrs Susan Devlin,
4W26 Quarry House,
Quarry Hill,
Leeds LS2 7UE.
Tel: 0113 254 5614
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