The NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health.
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It is responsible for handling negligence claims made against NHS bodies in England, on behalf of these bodies.
In addition it:
Performance
In 2004-5 the authority dealt with 5,609 claims of clinical negligence and 3,766 of non-clinical negligence. About 38% of claims are abandoned by the claimant, and about 43% are settled out of court. In 2004-5 £502.9 million was paid out in respect of clinical negligence claims, and £25.1 million in respect of non-clinical negligence. By 2015/6 payments (which include defence and claimants' legal costs) had risen to more than £1.4 billion, although new claims in that year fell by 4.6%. It often takes several years to resolve claims. Claims may be submitted many years after the event. The biggest element of compensation is the cost of caring for children who suffer brain injury at birth. There is no time limit on these claims.
It runs the clinical negligence scheme for trusts. All NHS trusts in England are members of the scheme. They paid £968m in contributions in 2013-14 an increase of 38% since 2009. In principle trusts can insure themselves in the commercial market, but none have yet done so, possibly because leaving the scheme would crystallise their outstanding liabilities. The authority altered the scheme in 2014 to give greater weight to trusts claims history when setting contributions.
In 2012/3 charges amounted to £3,778,000. 47.59% related to maternity, 21.45% to surgery, 15.65% to medicine, 7.83% to A&E and 7.48% to all other specialities. Clinical negligence charges amounted to 23% of the cost of maternity services in England.
The Department of Health’s triennial review of the Authority in 2015 reported that it took an average of 2.7 years for claims to be reported and a further 1.31 years for claims to be resolved.
History
It was established in 1995 as a special health authority. Its current duties are established under the National Health Service Act 2006. Since its foundation it has managed about 160,000 clinical negligence claims.
The National Clinical Assessment Service became part of the NHS Litigation Authority on 1 April 2013, taking the headcount of employees at the NHS LA to over 200 people.
Mr Ian Dilks is chair of the authority, having taken up his appointment on 1 April 2014 for a three-year term of office. He succeeded Dame Joan Higgins who was appointed in 2007.