Members, partners and legal firms are noticing a more open and transparent NHS Resolution (NHSR), formerly the Litigation Authority (NHS LA). Ian Adams, director of membership and stakeholder engagement at the newly rebranded organisation, takes us through what lies behind these changes and what the future holds.

Fixed costs have been increasingly introduced throughout the legal field and now, despite fervent protests from claimant solicitors, they have reached the previously ‘sacred’ clinical negligence forum. Fixed costs are coming in and if law firms have not prepared for the storm, they are likely to flounder.

Every year thousands of babies are safely delivered by NHS staff. However, claims for compensation may arise as a result of problems during labour and delivery, which can result in the most severe forms of birth injury (brain injury/cerebral palsy).

What would you do as a defendant if you were presented with a claim which you believed had no merit? Two obvious solutions to concluding a claim are: 

A review following the decision in RE and others -v- Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS FT [2017].

International commercial law firm Hill Dickinson has appointed senior associate Pansy Tsang to join its Hong Kong office.

‘What is the role of the Court of Protection where there is a dispute between the providers or funders of health or social care services for a person who lacks the capacity to make the decision for himself and members of his family about what should be provided for him?’ That was how Lady Hale encapsulated the dispute at the heart of this ‘difficult and important’ case.

The Department of Health has opened its consultation into fixed recoverable costs (FRC) for clinical negligence claims. Views are sought on the following topics:

‘Ambulance chasers’ may be an old term for a relatively new breed of operators in the holiday illness claims industry, but it may come as a surprise to discover some of these may, in fact, be driving the ambulance too. In Tenerife, one outfit linked to a UK-based claims management company allegedly makes the rounds of hotels and resorts at the wheel of an old yellow ambulance with ‘Claims Clinic’ emblazoned on the side, seeking out holidaymakers who may have suffered food poisoning or other gastric illnesses during their stay and encouraging them to bring personal injury claims.

Bringing a civil claim in negligence remains the standard route used by patients and their families seeking compensation in relation to substandard medical treatment; but what role does Article 2 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) play and should this impact on your internal investigations?

The relevance of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) records is not limited to claims which show the claimant has received benefits as a result of a clinical negligence injury, or injury at work, but should also be considered even where a ‘nil’ Compensation Recovery Unit CRU certificate is received from the DWP. This is why:

Welds -v- Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (1) & Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (2) [2016] 3325 (QB)