Clinical Negligence Claims

Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links Excerpts

Wednesday 10th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The Government have looked at a number of different schemes from abroad. It is always very important to learn from good and bad practice, but what happens in a number of those cases is that the costs of compensation end up increasing. So We are looking at various solutions.

[Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links (Con)]

My Lords, the new indemnity scheme for historical clinical negligence that was brought into effect last year, the Existing Liabilities Scheme for General Practice, initially applied only to general practice members of the Medical & Dental Defence Union of Scotland, with general practice members of the Medical Protection Society due to come under its purview a full year later, in April just past. So I ask the Minister to update the House of any formal or informal assessments of the workings of this scheme in Scotland, the level of uptake and lessons learned, before it was further rolled out.

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

Before I respond, I wish to give a belated welcome to my noble friend Lady Davidson. I have worked with her often in the past, and she displays a wisdom beyond her years and a sense of humour that excels that of many on our Benches. To answer my noble friend, the Existing Liabilities Scheme for General Practice covers the historical liabilities of GPs, where the department has agreed commercial transactions with the previous indemnity providers. The scheme applies only to general practice in England and is part of the state indemnity reforms introduced in England in 2019. These 2019 reforms mean that GPs in England now benefit from more stable and affordable indemnity to cover future negligence claims. I understand that similar arrangements were introduced in Wales at the time. I am afraid that the policy on state indemnity is a devolved matter, but officials in the department are in regular contact with their counter- parts in the devolved Administrations.