Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the impact of a state-backed GP indemnity scheme in England on the number and value of clinical negligence claims made against GPs and other members of primary care teams.

The Department understands that the rising cost of indemnity cover is a great source of concern for general practitioners (GPs) and impacts negatively on the GP workforce. We are seeking to put in place a more affordable and more stable system of indemnity for general practice. The state backed indemnity scheme will aim to protect both patients and providers from the consequences of clinical negligence and to meet the changing needs of the National Health Service.

We have not made an assessment of the potential impact of the state scheme on the number and value of clinical negligence claims, but more generally, the Government is working to produce a cross-Government strategy to tackle the rising costs of clinical negligence, as challenged by the National Audit Office in their report, Managing the costs of clinical negligence in trusts, published in September 2017. A copy of this report is attached.