NHS: Negligence

Mr. Baron
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of clinical negligence which were funded by conditional fee agreements were closed in each of the last five years; in how many such cases damages were paid (a) by agreement to settle and (b) by award; what the total cost was of defending each such case where damages were paid; how much was paid to claimants in legal costs in (i) total, (ii) base costs and (iii) success fees; and in such cases where damages were paid, how much was paid in after-the-event insurance premiums.

Ann Keen
The information requested is in the following table and was provided by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA). The NHSLA is only able to provide an overall total of claimant costs because a global figure is recorded in its database. To provide a detailed breakdown of claimant costs, including After the Event insurance, would be at disproportionate cost.

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|Year of closure|Number of CFA claims closed|Number of claims|Damages paid (£)|Defence costs paid (£)|Claimant costs paid (£)|
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|2004-05        |233                        |151             |4,551,050       |886,720               |2,084,936              |
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|2005-06        |861                        |625             |31,892,845      |5,177,915             |14,448,748             |
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|2006-07        |1,142                      |799             |46,973,706      |7,579,297             |22,640,640             |
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|2007-08        |1,559                      |1,127           |62,559,320      |10,596,148            |37,934,943             |
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|2008-09        |1,579                      |1,120           |68,841,494      |9,828,907             |38,888,773             |
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|Total          |5,374                      |3,822           |214,818,415     |34,068,986            |115,998,040            |
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