Abolition of Legal Aid for Clinical Negligence

The snappily titled Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill (LASPO) has very recently become law and effectively closes the door for the vast majority of people seeking legal aid for clinical negligence claims. Only babies who sustain injury during labour, birth or in the immediate aftermath of birth will be entitled to legal aid. The changes will be implemented on the 1st April 2013.

The Government took the view the annual legal aid bill footed by the tax payer is excessive and needed to be slashed. Clinical negligence claims form only a very small proportion of the overall legal aid budget so it is questionable whether it will produce any real saving and some commentators consider the abolition of legal aid for clinical negligence will in fact only increase the cost to the taxpayer.

This is for the reason more cases will now have to be funded on a No Win No Fee basis in which circumstances the NHS Litigation Authority, claims handlers and insurers for most hospital trusts around the country, will have to pay a success fee as well as paying costs. The NHS Litigation Authority, a body which is also tax payer funded, suggested the Government should re think the position as they considered the abolition of legal aid would increase rather than decrease costs. It seems it all fell on deaf ears! I suspect any saving will be minimal if at all. The biggest losers will however be those injured by medical mistakes as they may now be denied access to justice due to lack of funding.


by Sara Westwood at sarawestwood@m-j-p.co.uk