Pat Wallace said that large portions of the HSE budget were swallowed in legal costs
A BIG portion of the HSE hospitals budget is swallowed up by solicitors seeking medical documents for personal injury law suits, Limerick’s County Registrar has said.
Pat Wallace made his remarks during a hearing to have a claim dismissed because of  delays in solicitors obtaining documents for insurance companies.
Limerick Civil Court heard that an order for a woman to hand over her medical records to the insurance company had not been complied with in the permitted time.
Counsel for the claimant, Ms Sheila Finn BL, told Mr Wallace that her solicitor had been encountering difficulties obtaining the records from the hospital.
“Through no fault of our own, we have experienced a great deal of delay with the hospital”, Ms Finn said.
“Some material has been forthcoming but we are seeking more time to compile the response to the insurance company.”
Mr Wallace said that the delay was outside the control of the woman’s solicitor but the court was still cognisant of advancing the case if it was to go to hearing.
“However, it’s clear that a large portion of the HSE budget is swallowed up by dealing with plaintiff solicitors seeking discovery medical documents.
“It seems to be a huge problem in UHL”, Ms Finn replied “and we can see that by the chaos there in the A&E unit”, she added.
Mr Wallace ordered that the files be sent to the lawyers for the insurance company within two months.
