Seriously injured patients may suffer under new rules on litigation, MPs say

UK government measures scrapping legal aid for clinical negligence actions and changing the rules for “no win, no fee” cases in England and Wales could erode settlements for the most seriously injured people and undermine access to justice for many, the parliamentary select committee on health says in a report on NHS litigation and complaints.

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill currently going through parliament makes legal aid no longer available for clinical negligence cases, forcing those who would previously have qualified to find lawyers willing to take their cases on a no win, no fee basis. Lawyers say that another …