Faculty doubts incentive effect of NHS recovery bill
A Scottish Parliament bill to allow recovery of NHS costs in treating industrial diseases is unlikely to lead to improved workplace safety, the Faculty of Advocates believes.
Faculty expressed the view in a stage 1 submission on the Liability for NHS Charges (Treatment of Industrial Disease) (Scotland) Bill, a member’s bill introduced by Stuart McMillan MSP.
The bill would amend legislation that allows the NHS to recover the cost of hospital treatment from someone responsible for causing an injury, so that it also covers cases of industrial disease.
Mr McMillan says he hopes his bill "will help recover vital monies for the NHS in Scotland, while also forcing industries and employers to be more proactive in terms of health and safety in the workplace".
In its response to the Health & Sport Committee's call for evidence, Faculty says it "does not consider that the bill will necessarily lead to improved working conditions and health and safety practices in workplaces".
It continues: "Those outcomes are already incentivised through awards of damages for personal injury to employees and criminal sanctions for breaches of statutory duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. There is no reason to believe that the bill will have any additional incentivising effect."
For similar reasons, it does not believe the bill will help prevent industrial diseases in the future, or bring a benefit to employees.
Faculty accepts that the bill would help reduce the financial burden on the NHS, while increasing the burden on insurance companies, without being able to quantify these effects. It declines to comment further on the substance or practical effect of the bill.