To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average time was for a claim for clinical negligence against his Department to be resolved in (a) the latest period for which figures are available and (b) 1997; and if he will make a statement. (206122)

In 2007-08, the average time for the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) to resolve a claim was 1.50 years for claims under the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) and 5.36 years for claims under the Existing Liabilities Scheme (ELS) or the Ex-Regional Health Authorities Scheme (Ex-RHA).

Data for 1997-98 are not available as the NHSLA did not record date of settlement on their database until July 2000. The earliest year for which data can be provided for comparison is 2001-02, where the average time for the NHSLA to resolve a claim under CNST was 1.39 years and 3.67 years for ELS/Ex-RHA.