"It’s clear that Parliament has run out of patience with the failure of successive governments to take control of soaring clinical negligence costs. The MDU’s patience is equally, if not more, exhausted. MPs have now set a six-month deadline for action and we’ll be holding the Government to account to make sure they meet it. We need concrete action to end this huge financial drain on the NHS and the public purse.
"The MDU has been sounding the alarm bell for years about two issues the report highlights. We strongly support the recommendation to repeal outdated legislation which risks the NHS paying twice for claimants’ care. We are particularly pleased that the Committee is supporting our call for data from government on the cost to the taxpayer of the current approach. Currently, there’s none – and that’s not good enough.
"Secondly, capping legal fees for lower value clinical negligence cases can’t come soon enough to control spiralling claimant legal fees. We urge the Government to get on with it and finally introduce fixed recoverable costs for lower value claims, which has been continuously delayed since the change of Government in 2024.
"We join the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in calling for publication of the long-awaited Lock review into the current clinical negligence regime. This review was commissioned as part of the NHS Year 10 Year Plan and is intended to outline to Ministers how to fix the broken system. Given the public interest in this issue, that review’s findings and recommendations must see the light of day as quickly as possible. This is all about transparency.
"Decades of inaction on clinical negligence has allowed costs to balloon, so we are pleased to see that MPs are putting pressure on Government to act. This is a chance to put an end to the millions of pounds being unnecessarily diverted from frontline patient care. We‘ll be following next steps closely to ensure the Government sticks to the timetable that’s been set out and finally shifts the dial on this issue."
This page was correct at publication on 30/01/2026. Any guidance is intended as general guidance for members only. If you are a member and need specific advice relating to your own circumstances, please contact one of our advisers.