The purpose of the NHS Litigation Authority is to provide a source of funds to pay compensation and legal costs to sufferers of negligence at the hands of NHS practitioners.
But compensation claims for medical negligence have, in recent times, increased significantly. As a result, the Department of Health has now been forced to deliver a 185-million bailout to the NHS Litigation Authority. The payment is to cover the costs of legal expenses and compensation claims between January and April 2012.
Government figures indicate that the maximum possible amount for negligence payouts faced by the NHS, if all cases brought against it were lost, has rocketed over the past ten years. The figure rose from 5.31-billion in 2001 to 16.85-billion in 2011. Annual payouts over the same period grew from 277- million in 2000-01 to nearly 1-billion in 2010-11. The number of clinical negligence claims has also risen in the past five years, from 5,697 to 8,655 per year.
The Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has blamed the increase in payouts on a significant rise in claims lodged on the basis of "no-win, no-fee". These claims are instigated by "claimant farmers" (or, as they are usually better-known, "ambulance chasers") who encourage NHS patients to sue for negligence without the risk of incurring financial loss if they lose the case. The successful claimant's legal expenses are, under the present system, paid for by the defendant in addition to any compensation payable.
The Department for Health has joined forces with the Ministry of Justice in supporting radical proposals which will, if implemented, result in a strong clampdown on claimant farmers. According to a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice, claimant lawyers and claimant farmers are "making a packet" under the present system. Tom Fothergill, the financial director of the NHS Litigation Authority, indicated that the presence of no-win, no fee lawyers has resulted in a significant increase in costs. Another factor is a recent legal ruling which has resulted in the wages of claimants' carers being linked to earnings rather than to inflation.
The Government has vowed to restore common sense to the civil litigation funding and costs system in England and Wales, and is now pressing ahead with plans for radical reform of the whole system. The new proposals will result in successful claimants having to pay their legal expenses from their own compensation payout, rather than being able to claim these additional costs from the defendant.
But compensation claims for medical negligence have, in recent times, increased significantly. As a result, the Department of Health has now been forced to deliver a 185-million bailout to the NHS Litigation Authority. The payment is to cover the costs of legal expenses and compensation claims between January and April 2012.
Government figures indicate that the maximum possible amount for negligence payouts faced by the NHS, if all cases brought against it were lost, has rocketed over the past ten years. The figure rose from 5.31-billion in 2001 to 16.85-billion in 2011. Annual payouts over the same period grew from 277- million in 2000-01 to nearly 1-billion in 2010-11. The number of clinical negligence claims has also risen in the past five years, from 5,697 to 8,655 per year.
The Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has blamed the increase in payouts on a significant rise in claims lodged on the basis of "no-win, no-fee". These claims are instigated by "claimant farmers" (or, as they are usually better-known, "ambulance chasers") who encourage NHS patients to sue for negligence without the risk of incurring financial loss if they lose the case. The successful claimant's legal expenses are, under the present system, paid for by the defendant in addition to any compensation payable.
The Department for Health has joined forces with the Ministry of Justice in supporting radical proposals which will, if implemented, result in a strong clampdown on claimant farmers. According to a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice, claimant lawyers and claimant farmers are "making a packet" under the present system. Tom Fothergill, the financial director of the NHS Litigation Authority, indicated that the presence of no-win, no fee lawyers has resulted in a significant increase in costs. Another factor is a recent legal ruling which has resulted in the wages of claimants' carers being linked to earnings rather than to inflation.
The Government has vowed to restore common sense to the civil litigation funding and costs system in England and Wales, and is now pressing ahead with plans for radical reform of the whole system. The new proposals will result in successful claimants having to pay their legal expenses from their own compensation payout, rather than being able to claim these additional costs from the defendant.
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