Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the level of legal costs associated with lower value clinical negligence claims.

We welcome the report by the National Audit Office (NAO) entitled Costs of clinical negligence. As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC is providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims. The review is ongoing, following initial advice to ministers and the recent NAO report.

The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policymaking in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps, in due course.