Last updated on August 18th, 2015 at 10:23 am

It has recently been reported in The Yorkshire Post that there were 1281 claims or reports of clinical mistakes against Yorkshire’s hospitals and clinics in the period April 2009 and March 2010; an increase of  almost 10% on the previous year.   The cost to the NHS is reported to be £80m a year and rising – that is more than £150 per minute for the taxpayer.

These enormous costs have prompted the Government to consider reforms to the current system, which might include withdrawing legal aid for clinical negligence cases.  There are also proposed changes to conditional fee agreements (CFAs), often referred to as no win, no fee agreements.  The Government believes the changes will make the system fairer for both claimants and defendants.

However there is huge concern about the changes amongst critics, who believe that it will be much more difficult for medical negligence victims to claim compensation.  Whist it is clear that the changes will reduce the NHS’s bill, there is no indication that the number of mistakes will be reduced, simply that less will come to light, and critics are asking if the NHS’s gain will be at the cost of injured people being denied access to justice?

On the other hand, Government ministers have indicated that they believe that it is vital that victims of clinical negligence have access to legal representation in order to claim compensation and that those with  valid cases will continue to be able to use  the no win, no fee system.