General Practitioners: Negligence
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the reason for the 45% increase in GP negligence claims between financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25; and whether his Department is taking steps to help reduce this increase.
Answered by Dr Zubir Ahmed
NHS Resolution manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England.
NHS Resolution’s Annual Reports and Accounts data states that claims relating to general practice services under the Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice increased from 2,382 in 2023/24 to 2,575 in 2024/25, which is an 8% increase. This is in line with NHS Resolution’s expectations of a maturing scheme that covers clinical negligence liabilities in relation to incidents that occurred on or after 1 April 2019. Claims under the Existing Liabilities Scheme for General Practice (ELSGP), covering incidents before April 2019, fell by 32% over the same period, from 502 to 341.
The continued reduction in ELSGP claims is in line with NHS Resolution’s expectations. The scheme provides indemnity cover in respect of liabilities incurred before 1 April 2019 and so NHS Resolution expects numbers to reduce over time as fewer new claims for incidents before that date are reported. Reported numbers in 2021/22 were particularly high due to the bulk migration of claims into the scheme from medical defence organisations.
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