Making Amends or Making Things Worse? Clinical Negligence Reform and Patient Redress in England

Legal Studies, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 630-648, December 2007

19 Pages Posted: 14 Jan 2008 Last revised: 9 May 2016

See all articles by Anne-Maree Farrell

Anne-Maree Farrell

University of Edinburgh - School of Law

Sarah Devaney

The University of Manchester

Date Written: 2007

Abstract

This article examines the government's reform of the current system of clinical negligence litigation in England, focusing on an analysis of the redress scheme for low value claims to be established under the NHS Redress Act 2006. The Act establishes a scheme to provide a package of redress to patients in circumstances where they have suffered harm as a result of negligence during the course of medical treatment provided by the National Health Service (NHS). One of the British government's central aims in embarking upon reform in this area was to provide a low cost, quick and genuine alternative to the current clinical negligence litigation system. This article critically analyses this reform of the current system by reference to an examination of what constitutes a just redress scheme in the circumstances. Such analysis shows that the government has missed a golden opportunity to establish a scheme which truly 'makes amends' to patients who have suffered harm through medical treatment in the NHS. Instead, the scheme is likely to operate in practice as an administrative scheme for low value claims that serves the institutional and financial interests of the NHS, and therefore fails to address longstanding patient concerns over the provision of redress arising out of harm suffered through medical treatment. As a result, patient confidence in the scheme is likely to be undermined in the long term.

Keywords: medical malpractice, medical malpractice reform, clinical negligence reform, patient redress, England

Suggested Citation

Farrell, Anne-Maree and Devaney, Sarah, Making Amends or Making Things Worse? Clinical Negligence Reform and Patient Redress in England (2007). Legal Studies, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 630-648, December 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1082872

Anne-Maree Farrell (Contact Author)

University of Edinburgh - School of Law ( email )

Edinburgh
Great Britain

Sarah Devaney

The University of Manchester ( email )

Oxford Road
Manchester M60 1QD, N/A M13 9PL
United Kingdom

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