Dr Rob Hendry, chief member officer and medical director at the Medical Protection Society (MPS), told the organisation’s annual medical conference on Saturday that the need for pre-action protocols “has never been greater”.

The conference, which took place online, featured speakers from law firms Matheson, Carson McDowell and Hayes Solicitors alongside medical experts and representatives of the MPS.

“Being involved in a clinical negligence claim can be brutal for both patients and doctors. In Ireland however, this is made much worse by a painfully slow process — longer than in any other country where MPS has members,” Dr Hendry told the event.

“While the human cost of the current process is clear, there is a financial price too. A protracted claims process means lawyers are involved extensively and over a longer period.

“Our data shows this is racking up legal costs that are among the highest of all the countries where we operate, which affects the cost of indemnity which doctors require to protect themselves against claims.”

Earlier this year, law firms joined the MPS and other organisations representing patients, doctors and dentists in backing a joint letter to Ireland’s justice and health ministers on pre-action protocols.

Dr Hendry said: “Pre-action protocols — a set of guidelines, laid out through legislation, which explain the conduct and steps a court expects parties to take before claims proceedings can commence — would help in speeding the process up.

“Pre-action protocols are not ‘new’. The Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 already set out a legal basis for implementing them.

“The regulations now just need to be drafted to facilitate this — something successive governments, including the current government — have committed to, but sadly not yet delivered on.

“So here we are, almost a decade since the legislation which paved the way for pre-action protocols came into effect, and the need for their introduction has never been greater.

“We urge the government to fulfil its commitment to creating a fairer, more efficient system and to fix a system that does not currently benefit anyone involved.”