December 2022
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This conference discussed the next steps for addressing rising clinical negligence costs in the NHS.
It was an opportunity to examine the future direction for reform, following the Government consultation on lower value clinical negligence claims.
Sessions focused on the way forward for learning from mistakes and litigation, improving patient safety, and supporting healthcare staff involved in clinical negligence claims.
Delegates also examined options for streamlining the processing of claims, international best practice, and the potential for moving towards a no-fault system proposed by the Health and Social Care Committee.
Overall, areas for discussion included:
- the current landscape: assessing the factors driving rising clinical negligence costs - the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on increased risk of claims from diagnosis and treatment delays
- impact of policy developments: including the increasing use of technology and the move to integrated care - addressing variation and inequalities - changes in the Health and Care Act
- next steps: priorities for the development of approaches that encourage the health system to learn from mistakes - assessing the potential impact of a no fault system
- efficiency:
- opportunities to improve the timeliness and cost-effectiveness of claims resolution
- the potential for a mandatory system of fixed recoverable costs in low value claims
- implications for the future direction of system reforms
- patient safety and protecting healthcare staff: next steps for learning from claims - developing collective learning - using best practice guidelines - support for the ethnic minority workforce
- international examples: lessons from approaches to clinical negligence claims in other countries - how they might be applied effectively in England
- NHS Resolution’s strategy to 2025: which sets out aims to reduce harm, distress and costs, and use indemnity arrangements to drive change across the health system
We were pleased to be able to include keynote sessions with Helen Vernon, Chief Executive, NHS Resolution; Sir Robert Francis KC, Chair, Healthwatch; John Machin, Co-Lead for Litigation, Getting it Right First Time, NHS England; and Dr Sonia Macleod, Researcher in Civil Justice Systems, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford.
