Recovery of medical costs

In February 2014, SNP MSP Stuart McMillan lodged a Recovery of Medical Costs for Asbestos Diseases (Scotland) Bill in the Scottish Parliament. Safety campaigners say that NHS Scotland spends more than £20 million a year diagnosing and treating people who have become ill due to exposure to asbestos. The bill would allow NHS Scotland to reclaim the costs of treating people with diseases caused by exposure to asbestos at work from negligent employers.

At present in Scotland, the NHS can reclaim the costs of treating people injured in workplace accidents, where an individual has successfully claimed against their employer. Recovery of NHS costs of treatment for those injured in accidents caused by the negligence of others has been a recognised concept since the Road Traffic (NHS Charges) Act 1999. The scheme initially applied only to care needs arising from road traffic accidents but was extended in 2003 with the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 to include costs arising out of all types and causes of injury. Section 150 of that Act, however, restricts recovery to costs-related treatment of an injury and not a disease.

The Welsh government is also due to consult on plans to allow the NHS to recover treatment costs for patients suffering with asbestos.