Clinical Negligence Claims

Debate between Ben Gummer and Pat McFadden

Wednesday 9th March 2016 Westminster Hall

[Ben Gummer]

I will turn to access to justice. I do not entirely accept the hon. Gentleman’s interpretation of the judge’s words.

In our proposed reforms, I intend to change the balance for the NHS Litigation Authority and for claimant lawyers to ensure that we get to a single version of the truth as early in the process as possible. I accept in its entirety my right hon. and learned Friend’s interpretation of the NHSLA’s performance in past years. I do so on the basis that many claimants have been immensely frustrated—as have the clinicians involved—by the length of time that trusts and the LA have had to respond to claims, the length of time it often takes to reach a resolution and the fact that there is often too much defence, delay and prevarication. At the same time, I have full confidence in the NHSLA’s current management, because I have seen a real determination to get to grips with the problems it inherited and change the authority into something far more fit for purpose.

I accept my right hon. and learned Friend’s contention that we need to change what happens with the NHSLA, but I posit that the existing costs regime encourages some claimant lawyers to stack costs in the early stage of a claim process rather than get to what we need to do: to establish a version of the truth agreed between all parties. I am not arguing that that is a deliberate and malicious intention, but that is how the system is constructed at the moment. Therefore, in attempting to reform how costs are settled between the NHSLA and claimants, we want to incentivise learning right at the beginning of the process, to ensure that it is as rapid as possible and that, if claimants have a fair claim, they receive justice and compensation as quickly as possible. Our interests are therefore entirely aligned.

That is why I say to claimant lawyers—I have said this privately to them on several occasions—that this is a genuine consultation. We are seeking to find out how best to reform a system that we all accept is not right. I therefore warn them against peremptory lobbying of Members of Parliament about a scheme that has not yet been determined. This is a genuine consultation, in which we will accept all their views, but they cannot—I hope they will not—proceed on a basis that could lay them open to accusations of pleading for special interests rather than trying to contribute to the consultation.

[Mr McFadden]

The right hon. and learned Member for Harborough (Sir Edward Garnier) said that law firms currently reject 90% of cases brought to them because the burden of proof is high. I therefore do not think that we should portray this as a field of many frivolous claims. With that degree of rejection by law firms as background, will the Minister tell the House how the Government came to their figure for estimated savings for the new regime of £80 million? Where will those savings come from?

[Ben Gummer]

I hope that I in no way suggested that any of the claims brought forward were frivolous. I am saying that the way in which the current system is constructed loads costs at the beginning, and that does not help get us to a fair and equitable solution as quickly as possible. I am merely positing, but I believe there is fault on both sides. It is not necessarily the fault of either organisation; it is the fault of the system as a whole, which does not encourage good behaviours. The result is that we are not extracting learning as quickly as possible from litigation; we are not using claims, when unfortunately they are brought, to ensure that we improve medical practice; and, frankly, we are not using the early stage of complaints sufficiently well to ensure that claims are not brought.

I entirely agree with my right hon. and learned Friend that almost all complainants are not after a financial reward; they just want someone to say sorry and to accept responsibility for what happened. If we can achieve that far quicker in a learning culture, we will do something remarkable, not just for them, but for the many people who will follow. In answer to the right hon. Member for Wolverhampton South East (Mr McFadden), the estimate of savings proposed in the initial consultation document was part of the spending review round, and it was done through the usual modelling processes employed by the Treasury and the NHSLA, which understands the value of claims coming through.

My right hon. and learned Friend asked about the £250,000 limit. That limit was not arbitrary, but drawn from the original intentions of Lord Justice Jackson’s review on civil litigation costs in 2010, with which I know he is well acquainted. In that review, Lord Justice Jackson pressed for fixed recoverable costs in the lower reaches of the multi-track up to £250,000. That was in relation to personal injury claims, but, in trying to draw a line somewhere, we felt that that was an appropriate place, given his recommendation to do so. That is, however, subject to consultation. We want to hear the full range of views about where the limit should be placed. My right hon. and learned Friend’s contribution will be an important part of that consultation, and I and officials will take note of it.

My right hon. and learned Friend spoke of the Chinese walls and why the Department of Health is bringing forward this review. He is well aware of the usual practice that Departments bring forward proposals that relate to their areas of responsibility. The Ministry of Justice did so in previous reforms in which it had a financial interest, just as the Department of Health is doing here. I hope that, in our open approach, we will be able to explain that our primary concern is around changing the culture of the NHS and making sure that we are driving down claims for good reasons—that there are fewer of them because we are improving clinical practice—rather than just trying to deny people access to justice, which is the opposite of one of the intentions of the review.

The hon. Member for Torfaen (Nick Thomas-Symonds) is entirely right to say that we should ensure that we make justice as open as possible. The litmus test of the reform will be that, if people feel that, despite everything we are doing to make the NHS a better organisation—listening to complaints, learning from mistakes and providing restitution early—they still wish to bring forward a claim, it will be easy to do and no unreasonable barriers will be placed in their way.