Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford on 6 February (HL793), what assessment they have made of the performance of NHS Resolution, following the payment of damages in 2,872 out of 3,487 cases were proceedings had been issued in 2018–19.

NHS Resolution has a responsibility to settle justified clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England fairly and swiftly, and to defend against unjustified claims, to protect NHS resources.

The majority of claims are resolved through alternative dispute resolution, without any formal proceedings being issued and the number of claims moving into formal litigation has continued to drop in recent years, from a litigation rate of 34% in 2016-17 to 31% in 2018-19.

The Department holds NHS Resolution to account for its performance and is satisfied with the progress NHS Resolution is making on delivering on its strategic aims, including its efforts to avoid unnecessary litigation.