Considering claims against the NHS

A good window on the activities of any organisation is its annual report and accounts. These show the challenges and opportunities facing the organisation. Valuable real-time information on the industry context that the organisation works in is provided, with trends analysis and so on.

NHS Resolution (2021) has recently published its annual report and accounts for 2020/21. Some important trends are analysed on several matters including patient safety and clinical negligence in the NHS. Information given includes costs of claims and the type of clinical specialties that are resulting in litigation. Information is also given on future initiatives.

In 2020/21 NHS Resolution received 12 629 clinical negligence claims and reported incidents, compared with 11 678 in 2019/20. This represents an increase of 951 (7.5%). The total included 973 new claims and incidents for the relatively new Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice (CNSGP) indemnity scheme that NHS Resolution manages. NHS Resolution manages several other clinical indemnity schemes and saw a decrease in claims overall on the other established clinical schemes.