Legal Aid Cuts in Clinical Negligence Cases Will Cost the NHS

Dr Graham Cookson of King’s College has released a report called ‘Unintended Consequences: the costs of the government’s legal aid reforms’. This report shows that by cutting Legal Aid in clinical negligence cases, the NHS will bear great financial costs.

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill that has been proposed by the government stated that by cutting Legal Aid in clinical negligence cases it would save around £10.5million a year. However, Dr Cookson’s report shows that the NHS could in fact incur costs almost three times the savings figure totalling £28.5million per annum.

The £28.5million is said to made up from what is called ‘knock on’ costs, which include triage telephone services, payment for damages for successful cases (of 10%) and fee and report premiums. The NHS could face a loss of £18million a year if Legal Aid is cut from clinical negligence cases, the majority of which will be through payments made by the NHS Litigation Authority.