SCA figures show medical-negligence ‘patterns’
Lawyers at Fieldfisher say that, while medical negligence is often discussed in terms of individual cases, the State’s own figures tell a wider story about where care most often goes wrong and what the health service should change.
The firm has analysed official data from the State Claims Agency (SCA), which manages clinical-negligence claims against the HSE and public hospitals.
Figures given by the Minister for Health to the Dáil in May show that €210.2 million in damages was paid out in 2025, with total payments rising to €319.7 million when legal and expert costs were included.
Total payments in the first four months of this year were €105 million.
Damages fall, costs rise
Fieldfisher points out that damages paid have fallen from about €278 million in 2021, while plaintiff legal costs and expert costs have risen over the same period.
The figures reflect when payments were made, not when the incidents happened. The firm notes that many claims relate to events years earlier, particularly where children's long-term needs must be assessed.
The main areas where claims came from were:
- Emergency departments,
- Radiology, and
- Cauda equina syndrome, which arises from damage to a bundle of nerves below the end of the spinal cord.
Diagnostic error
According to Fieldfisher, the SCA's 2026 review of emergency-department claims found that diagnostic error was the most common cause.
Nearly half of the patients returned to an emergency department with the same problem, and about one in five deteriorated while waiting to see a clinician.
The SCA has identified missed diagnoses as a common cause of radiology claims, while the agency finalised 41 claims linked to cauda equina system between 2008 and 2018, with damages of almost €21 million.
“The State's own analysis confirms what families often describe: missed diagnoses, delays in being seen, and warning signs that were not acted on,” the Fieldfisher lawyers state.
‘Not isolated events’
“It also shows that the health service recognises these as patterns, not isolated events,” they add.
“For an individual patient, however, the question is always whether their own care fell below the expected standard and caused them harm. That depends on the records and on independent expert evidence,” Fieldfisher says.
The firm notes that the SCA does not publish claims figures by individual hospital, saying that this would create a ‘league table’ that could lead to unwarranted comparisons between hospitals without proper context.