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Published on July 17, 2007

The move should reduce the 300 or so lawsuits against state hospitals each year, Deputy Public Health Minister Vallop Thaineua explained yesterday.

Mediators would be medical professionals with skills in diplomacy. Large hospitals would have four and smaller ones two. They will be "senior, not judgmental and impartial".

Training began in 2003 and more than 250 mediators have graduated, along with 6,000 medical staff qualified as assistants.

Vallop said civil damage claims had worsened in the past decade. The number of cases lodged with the Medical Council each year increased to 300 last year, from around 50 in 1988. The council received 2,726 complaints over the 17-year period.