Cap on lawyers’ fees for minor negligence claims could save NHS £45m a year

Lawyers whose clients win compensation between £1000 and £25 000 (€29 000; $31 000) for clinical errors will have the costs they can recover from the NHS capped, under proposals from the Department of Health for England.1

The move is aimed at saving legal costs in clinical negligence claims of lower value, where costs can often dwarf the compensation received.

The Medical Defence Union, which indemnifies doctors against legal claims, said that the proposal did not go far enough and argued that the health department should have gone ahead with an earlier plan to cap …