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BMJ 2002; 325 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.325.7365.614 (Published 21 September 2002) Cite this as: BMJ 2002;325:614

NHS to recover costs in personal injury cases: After recommendations from the Law Commission, the government has published a consultation document looking at extending the system of recovering NHS costs from road traffic crashes to all personal injury claims. This extended scheme could raise £220m ($340m; €350m) a year for NHS hospitals. The Recovery of NHS Costs in Cases Involving Personal Injury Compensation is accessible at http://www.doh.gov.uk/nhscosts/index.htm

Surgeon who operated on president of Slovakia to be indicted for negligence: Slovak police have recommended that Dr Frantisek Fabian, who operated on President Rudolf Schuster last year for a ruptured colon, be indicted for negligence. After developing potentially life threatening complications, President Schuster was flown to Austria for emergency surgery (BMJ 2001;323:1086).

Clinical audit ordered for Gosport War Memorial Hospital: The chief medical officer, Professor Liam Donaldson, has commissioned a clinical audit of the care of elderly patients at Gosport War Memorial Hospital, Hampshire. His decision follows a report from the Commission for Health Improvement and a police investigation into the service. Professor Richard Baker from the Clinical Governance Research and Development Unit at the University of Leicester is to carry it out. The commission's report can be accessed at http://www.chi.nhs.uk/.

Government launches strategy to reduce suicide: The Department of Health plans to promote safer prescribing of antidepressants and analgesics and wants to tackle known suicide hotspots, such as railway bridges, in an attempt to cut down the number of suicides in England by at least a fifth by 2002. Suicide is the commonest cause of death among young men aged under 35 in the United Kingdom. There are about 5000 suicides a year, of which 1300 are in young men. The strategy can be accessed at: http://www.doh.gov.uk/mentalhealth/index.htm

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