Claims Process (Hansard, 30 June 2003)

§ Mr. Oaten
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to speed up the process of settling claims against the NHS. [122178]

§ Ms Rosie Winterton
The Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, has today published a report for consultation outlining proposals for reform of the National Health Service negligence system. This report, entitled "Making Amends: a consultation paper setting out proposals for reforming the approach to clinical negligence in the NHS", proposes that a less adversarial system should be available. This "Redress" scheme would link to the National Health Service complaints procedure and the new independent inspection structures being taken forward through the Health and Social Care Reform Bill presently before the House. A copy of the report is available in the Library.

§ Mr. Oaten
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the findings of resolve, the pilot study on out of court settlements of claims in the NHS. [122179]

§ Ms Rosie Winterton
The Department has only received an interim report on the findings of the 'Resolve' pilot. A final report on the findings of the 'Resolve' pilot is still awaited. A decision whether to publish the findings of the 'Resolve' pilot will be made once the full findings of the 'Resolve' pilot have been received and analysed.

§ Mr. Oaten
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to increase the use of out of court settlements to resolve claims against the NHS. [122180]

§ Ms Rosie Winterton
In his report, "Making Amends: a consultation paper setting out proposals for reforming the approach to clinical negligence in the NHS", published today, the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, has indicated that under a National Health Service redress scheme, alternative dispute resolution and other measures will be available to provide a system that responds to patients' needs, that supports clinicians to deliver the very best quality care, and that is a driver for the NHS to learn from mistakes to continue to improve the quality of care it delivers. A copy of the report is available in the Library.