Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department have made of potential savings of the implementation of Fixed Recoverable Costs for clinical negligence claims valued up to (a) £25,000, (b) £100,000 and (c) £250,000.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.
As announced in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC will be providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs and how we can improve patients’ experience of clinical negligence claims, ahead of a review by the Department in the autumn. The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point. The Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps, in due course.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of repealing S2(4) of the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948 on NHS costs.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.
As announced in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC will be providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs and how we can improve patients’ experience of clinical negligence claims, ahead of a review by the Department in the autumn. The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point. The Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps, in due course.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) organisations and (b) individuals has David Lock KC had discussions with as part of his review into the legal costs of clinical negligence.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.
As announced in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC will be providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs and how we can improve patients’ experience of clinical negligence claims, ahead of a review by the Department in the autumn. The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point. The Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps, in due course.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether David Lock KC’s review of the legal costs of clinical negligence will be published.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.
As announced in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC will be providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs and how we can improve patients’ experience of clinical negligence claims, ahead of a review by the Department in the autumn. The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point. The Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps, in due course.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of claims for clinical negligence in each NHS Trust in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Resolution (NHSR) manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England. The table attached shows the number of clinical claims and incidents received in the 2024/25 financial year, broken down by NHS trust.
The table provided sets out the number of clinical negligence claims and incidents notified to NHSR by NHS trusts in the most recent period for which data is available. It should be noted that these figures are based on the financial year in which a claim or incident was notified to NHSR, however, the incident may have occurred in previous financial years.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the men’s health strategy; and whether it will include funding to help prevent (a) suicide and (b) premature death for men.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are developing a Men's Health Strategy which will seek to improve the health and wellbeing of all men in England. This includes finding the right ways to promote healthier behaviours, improving outcomes for health conditions that hit men harder, and improving engagement with healthcare. The strategy will be informed by the Call for Evidence which closed on 17 July 2025. We aim to launch the Men’s Health Strategy later this year.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of utilising shareable health data to help (a) fire and rescues services and (b) local authorities identify vulnerable residents.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a formal assessment of using health data in this way but is aware of exploratory work underway in the National Health Service, including in Greater Manchester. This year the Department is working to tackle the underlying barriers to linking health and non-health data to improve outcomes and is supporting a small number of priority projects.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many of the commercial arrangements made by NHS England with marketing authorisation holders between January 2020 and September 2025 involving indication-specific pricing were for indications for (a) rare non-oncology and (b) ultra-rare non-oncology conditions.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Between January 2020 and September 2025, NHS England entered into 75 commercial arrangements involving indication-specific pricing. Of these, eight of the commercial agreements have involved indication-specific pricing for rare non-oncology conditions, and of those eight, two were for indications classed as ultra-rare non-oncology conditions.
Please note that the following definitions of rare and ultra rare non-oncology conditions have been applied: rare, meaning a condition which affects less than 1 in 2,000 people, as per the National Health Service rare diseases framework; and ultra-rare, meaning a condition affecting 1 in 50,000 people or fewer in England.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department (a) has made and (b) plans to make an assessment of the impact of exposure to chemicals on cancer incidence rates.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK REACH regulation aims to protect human health from the risks that can be posed by chemicals, including substances of very high concern such as carcinogens. This is led by the Health and Safety Executive, with the UK Health Security Agency contributing to the process. The Department is currently not planning to make an assessment of the impacts of chemicals on cancer incidence rates for this reason.
Asked by: John Milne (Liberal Democrat - Horsham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many integrated care boards have a designated senior leader responsible for (a) neurology and (b) rehabilitation services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held centrally. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for designating senior leaders as appropriate, as well as for commissioning most services for people with long term conditions including for neurology and rehabilitation services. ICBs are allocated funding by NHS England to meet local need and priorities and improve outcomes.