2 November 2012
Leading Yorkshire clinical negligence lawyers are warning that proposed government cutbacks to Legal Aid could seriously affect patients’ entitlement to damages.
The coalition government’s proposed changes could adversely affect all patients who suffer avoidable injury as a result of medical errors. This may prevent patients from obtaining any compensation or, where a successful claim is pursued, being forced to accept only 75 per cent of their agreed compensation, warns Nick Gray, of the Hull firm of Williamsons Solicitors.
“Under the current civil justice system one of the central guiding principles is that the victim of any ‘wrong’ should receive appropriate monetary compensation to put them back in the position they would have been, had the ‘wrong’ not occurred,” said Mr Gray.
“In some cases this is a relatively straightforward exercise, but for those individuals who suffer a catastrophic injury, perhaps as a result of a medical mistake, this is extremely difficult, for example, a baby who suffers brain damage at birth and as a result, requires life-long 24-hour care and support.
“The government intends to force injured patients to contribute towards their legal costs, instead of the losing party, such as a hospital, paying all the patient’s legal costs. This could mean the injured patient paying for legal costs of up to 25 per cent of what is very carefully calculated compensation.
“Why is that considered fair and just? Why should the losing party, whose actions caused the patient to suffer injury, not pay all of the compensation and legal costs?”
Mr Gray said that the proposed changes will result in significant savings to the government and insurers, but ignore the fact that any shortfall will be payable by the innocent injured party.
“Perhaps this explains why the government is unwilling to listen to any rational objections,” he said. “However, it also ignores the fact that any shortfall will be payable by the innocent injured party. This cannot be right. The poorest and most vulnerable are those who will be affected most.”
Mr Gray said that to compound matters further, Legal Aid is to be withdrawn for all legal cases involving medical errors. He said that if the planned changes were already in place, Williamsons could not have obtained a Legal Aid certificate to investigate a case on behalf of the family of Hull man, Mr Mark Bonehill, who died at Hull Royal Infirmary in 2009.
“This will result in fewer patients being in a position to bring legal claims and find out if avoidable errors have been made in their treatment. This is because ‘no win, no fee’ agreements, the only other way to pay for a legal case, would not be offered to those patients whose cases are complicated or very expensive to pursue,” added Mr Gray.
“As solicitors working in the area of clinical negligence, we are very aware of the impact that the proposed changes will have on the general public.
“We believe that the impact should be made clear to the general public so that they have the opportunity to voice their concerns.”
