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Fixed fee proposals welcomed – with reservations

New Government proposals for fixing legal fees in medical negligence cases have been given a cautious welcome by lawyers.

The proposals, currently out to consultation, are for a fixed cap on all clinical negligence cases up to £25,000. The aim, says the Department of Health, is to prevent rising litigation costs within the NHS. Currently, there is no limit on legal costs that can be recouped. It is expected the new cap will save the NHS up to £45m a year.

The department cites an instance where costs of £83,000 were claimed for a case in which the patient was awarded £1,000. The total bill for the NHS was £1.5bn in the financial year 2015-16.

Announcing the proposals, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt (pictured) said: “It’s important that, when significant mistakes happen in the NHS, patients are able to have an open dialogue with a trust about what went wrong, receive reassurance of what is being learnt and can discuss what form of recompense or redress may be appropriate. Legal action should only be one part of this process.

One year on, MedCo is dealing with start-up glitches

In may the annual conference of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers was addressed by Lord Faulks, then minister at the Department of Justice (pictured). Among the subjects of his address was an appraisal of the first year of operation of MedCo, the body set up by the government to facilitate the sourcing of medical reports in soft tissue injury claims brought under the MoJ’s new Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents.

Lord Faulks said: “The new portal introduces much needed independence and breaks the financial links between the solicitors who request medical reports and the medical experts and organisations who provide them. MedCo is also about improving the quality of reports and is introducing a robust new accreditation scheme for medical experts.”

Cost of private practice claims rockets

Compensation claims for multi million pound sums against GPs and consultants in private practice have risen three-fold over the last decade, according to figures released in March by the Medical Defence Union (MDU).

In 2015, the MDU settled 12 compensation claims for more than £1m on behalf of its GP and consultant members. By contrast, in 2005 just four settled claims exceeded the £1m mark and in 1995 only one patient received over £1m in compensation from the MDU.

Over the past three years alone more than £100m has been paid out by the MDU to compensate patients and pay legal costs in 36 medical negligence claims that exceeded £1m. The highest amount paid out by the MDU was £9.2m to compensate a patient rendered tetraplegic after spinal surgery and to pay legal costs. In another case, involving a GP, £8.5m in compensation and legal costs was paid for a missed diagnosis of a subarachnoid haemorrhage.

South American implants manufacturer has CE Mark suspended

On 25 September the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced it had temporarily suspended the use of South American manufacturer Silimed's silicone implants in the UK after its CE Mark had been suspended following an inspection by a German notified body.

In a statement the MHRA said: "The German medical device regulatory authority informed MHRA on Friday 18 September 2015 that a German notified body had temporarily suspended the marketing and distribution of all medical devices manufactured by Silimed.

"A recent inspection of the manufacturing facility by the notified body identified particles on the surface of some devices.

BMI criterion for weight-loss surgery ‘too high’, say Swedish researchers

Aerial view of the Sahlgrenska Institute at the University of Gothenburg for Your Expert Witness story The criteria for weight-loss surgery need to be changed, according to health experts at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. In particular, a reduction in the body mass index (BMI) that obese patients must exceed in order to qualify for weight-loss – or bariatric – surgery could result in improvements to the health of many more people, reducing the prevalence of conditions such as type 2 diabetes.

The recommendations are based on the findings of the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) study carried out at the university's Sahlgrenska Academy, involving 104 patients who were operated on despite their BMI being 'too low'. As a result, the risk of developing diabetes was reduced by 67%.