The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and other groups representing the legal profession used the now-closed consultation on the proposed fixed costs cap for “lower value” clinical negligence claims and a new streamlined system to argue for significant changes.
The UK government proposed a new cap “to ensure legal costs for lower value clinical negligence cases are proportionate and fair” earlier this year, claiming that such a system will save £500 million for the NHS.
The proposed cap will apply to “lower value” clinical negligence claims valued up to and including £25,000 in England and Wales.
A new streamlined process to ensure claims are processed more quickly, ensuring faster resolution and reducing the need to go to court, was also proposed.
In response to the consultation, APIL called the proposed changes “unfair and inconsistent”.
Suzanne Trask, executive committee member at APIL, continued: “Protected parties are excluded from other low value schemes, such as for road traffic collisions and workplace injuries, because of the complexity of their cases. Additional work is required to help people without the capacity to manage their own claims and it is extremely difficult to anticipate the amount of extra time and work required.”
“And cases where patients have died at the hands of the NHS certainly need more time and greater sensitivity than is afforded by this scheme.”
APIL also criticised the proposed limits on costs available to pay for representation for injured patients under the new system, and