Health law services 'must change'

The way contracts for legal services are awarded in the health service needs to be improved.

This is expected to be the key recommendation from the Audit Office when it appears before the Stormont Public Accounts Committee.

It follows a report which found a solicitor swindled health boards and trusts out of more than £250,000.

This was because of a lack of scrutiny of pay-outs and existing guidance not being followed.

George Brangam was a solicitor who specialised in settling medical negligence cases for the health service.

He had practices at Dundonald and Belfast.

But in the summer a report by the Northern Ireland Audit Office found that over an eight year period he was able to siphon more than £250,000 out of the system.

It blamed the lack of scrutiny and failure to follow the guidelines.

But on Thursday, the Audit Office is expected to tell MLAs that even after the Brangam fraud another firm of solicitors was able to provide legal advice to several health bodies - without having first gone through a tendering process.