It has recently been reported that the NHS face a bill of over £700m in 2010, a rise of over 80%.

However, the increase, according to the NHS Litigation Authority, is not due to an increase in clinical negligence claims but a combination of:

1. 100 delayed cases awaiting a ruling in relation to the way in which future care is calculated. These cases were all serious injuries and most were cerebral palsy claims.

2. The rise in No Win No Fee Agreements.

It is expected that the costs of medical negligence claims will fall in 2011 once all delayed settlements are dealt with.

Many medical negligence Lawyers are becoming increasingly frustrated with the impression given by the media and government that they are greedy and cherry pick cases.

The rise in the number of No Win No Fee agreements, which provide for a ‘success fee’ of up to 100%, is due to the real difficulties in obtaining Public Funding (Legal Aid).

Historically, most medical negligence claims were funded by Legal Aid. However, it is now extremely difficult to be eligible for Legal Aid and so Lawyers have been forced to turn to No Win No Fee agreements.

There are obviously massive risks in funding a claim on this basis for the law firm. Fees are not paid until the conclusion of the case, which can often take upwards of three years. In addition, if the claim is not successful the Lawyers receive no payment; this can mean that three years of work goes unpaid. Law Firms are businesses and therefore must ‘risk assess’ cases before undertaking them on a Now Win No Fee basis.

All our Lawyers offer No Win No Fee agreements. In qualifying cases they are able to offer Public Funding.

Please see our Funding section for details of the various ways in which a medical negligence claim can be funded.

You can also discuss any queries with one of our specialist medical negligence Lawyers.  Contact us today for a free initial discussion.