Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 38437 on NHS: Negligence, what the tariff system used to determine payments for medical negligence by NHS Resolution is.

NHS Resolution (NHSR) manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England. There is no singular tariff system that is used to calculate compensation awards. The legal principle in English law is that the harmed individual is put back into the position they would be had the harm not occurred. Therefore, each individual claim has to be considered on its own factual circumstances.

However, there are some statutory limits in certain cases, such as fatalities, and guidelines for the awards in respect of the actual injuries suffered, namely the Judicial College Guidelines. NHSR uses these guidelines to determine the appropriate award for the injuries suffered. In respect to the consequential losses that flow from the harm suffered, such as loss of earnings or care costs, these are assessed based on individual circumstances, informed by expert evidence.

Future losses are calculated using the Ogden tables, based on the personal injury discount rate, which is set by the Lord Chancellor. Common law precedent is also used to determine if certain heads of loss are recoverable, and if so, what value is placed upon them. In certain circumstances, for example when dealing with a large group of claims, we may agree a tariff system with claimant representatives to facilitate swift and efficient resolutions for patients.