HC Deb 13 May 2004 vol 421 cc485-6W
Mr. Gordon Marsden

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many(a) patients and (b) patients' families have received legal aid support for disputes with NHS trusts in the last five years. [166692]

Mr. Lammy

The information requested is not directly available. The Legal Services Commission's computer systems do not record the status of the person receiving legal aid nor do they indicate who the dispute is against. However, the Commission is able to provide figures for the number of funding certificates where the Commission has granted Legal Representation for actual or potential clinical negligence proceedings. The figures are not necessarily reflective of the number of individuals involved:

Number
1998–99 7,867
1999–2000 7,375
2000–01 7,329
2001–02 7,309
2002–03 6,307

The Commission has figures for the pre-representation legal advice and assistance stage only from April 2001. These are as follows—again the figures are not necessarily reflective of the number of individuals involved:

Number
2000–01 4,550
2001–02 4,903
2002–03 4,554