Clinical Negligence Solicitors

The Department of Health (DoH) has announced the safer maternity care action plan, which provides resources for trusts to improve their approach to maternity safety – including £8 million for multi-disciplinary training, with at least £40,000 available to each NHS trust in England.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced the action plan and said that new measures would also ensure that lessons were learned from mistakes and shared openly and transparently across the NHS.

The DoH said it would also consult on how to change the litigation culture, which it said could “prevent openness and transparency”. Views will be sought on a new voluntary compensation scheme as an alternative to costly legal processes.

The safer maternity care action plan also includes a £250,000 maternity safety innovation fund to help create and pilot new ideas for improving maternity care, such as the PROMPT scheme pioneered by Professor Tim Draycott in Southmead, which has some of the lowest child mortality rates in Europe.

New maternity ratings for every clinical commissioning group (CCG) across the NHS will be published to improve transparency, raise standards and give families better information about the quality of local maternity services.

There will also be a new national Maternal and Neonatal Health Quality Improvement Programme for all trusts to exchange ideas and best practice – a similar scheme in Scotland was linked to a 19% decrease in stillbirths over a three-year period.

There will also be a consultation to develop a “safe space” to allow clinicians to speak openly about things that go wrong, without fear the information they disclose may be used against them in court or professional misconduct hearings.

The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch – modelled on the Air Accident Investigation Branch –will also be up and running from April 2017.

There will also be a consultation on a new rapid resolution and redress (RRR) scheme – the RRR scheme could investigate and learn lessons from more than 500 incidents a year. In cases where harm was avoidable, this would offer timely access to financial support without the current obligation on families to launch a formal legal process – at present, the average time families have to wait for resolution of a case is 11.5 years.

Eligible families would be given the option to join an alternative system of compensation, offering support and regular payments without the need to bring a claim through the courts – and the scheme would ensure families received personalised support, including counselling, case management and legal advice.

A similar scheme operating in Sweden has reduced serious avoidable birth injuries by around 50% in the last six to seven years.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said:

“Our NHS maternity staff do a fantastic job under huge pressure, but even though we have made much progress, our stillbirth rates are still amongst the highest in Western Europe – and many on the frontline say there is still too much of a blame culture when things go wrong, often caused by fear of litigation or worry about damage to reputation and careers.

“These comprehensive measures will give practical support to help trusts improve their approach to safety – and help to foster an open and transparent culture so that the courts become a last resort, not an automatic first step.

“By learning from proven methods in countries like Sweden, we hope to achieve a dramatic reduction in the number of tragedies where babies are lost or injured for life.

“As part of the ambition to halve neonatal death, stillbirth, maternal death and brain injuries caused during or shortly after labour by 2030, we’ve launched ‘Our Chance’ – a new public health campaign in partnership with Sands and Best Beginnings.

“It aims to raise awareness of key issues that can lead to stillbirth, such as reduced foetal movement, itching and smoking – and highlight lifestyle changes women can take to improve their likelihood of having better pregnancy outcomes.”


Duncan Lewis Clinical Negligence Solicitors – No win no fee Birth Injury Claims

Duncan Lewis clinical negligence solicitors can advise parents whose child has suffered a birth injury caused by negligence on how to make a no win no fee claim for compensation.

Claims for birth injuries can be made up until a child is 21 – Duncan Lewis can advise parents and guardians on how to make a claim on behalf of their child before the age of 21 by acting as the child’s litigation friend.

Duncan Lewis can also advise on birth injuries to the mother, which were caused by negligence during delivery or poor care during pregnancy.

For supportive legal advice on no win no fee Birth Injury Claims, call Duncan Lewis clinical negligence solicitors on 0333 772 0409.