Last updated on April 6th, 2017 at 01:35 pm

AvMa and its members are heavily opposed to the plans to include medical negligence funding in the proposal to cut £350m from the £2.2bn annual legal aid budget by 2015,  saying that such claims account for only £17m and that the cuts will deny access to justice to ‘needy and deserving victims’.

Graysons WE says “We have seen the casualties of some of the most severe and ‘avoidable’ accidents possible.   Medical professionals owe their patients a duty of care and when things go wrong proper representation and compensation should an absolute right.  We wholeheartedly support AvMa’s challenge to legal aid cuts.

They come at a time when the Government also proposes changes to no-win, no-fee arrangements and after the event insurance – despite suggesting that victims should use these methods to fund their claim!  So what options will be left?

One proposal currently being debated with the NHSLA (National Health Service Litigation Authority) is a new scheme aimed at fast tracking low value claims (of less than £25,000) through the courts.  Sensible in principle if it helps such cases move more swiftly than they do currently, but there are issues that really need ironing out before a pilot scheme (which could be next April) could indicate success.

As specialist medical negligence lawyers, we will be keeping a close watch on what is happening and will make sure we post up to date information on our web site www.graysons.co.uk, but whilst we wait, our expert team will remain committed to providing a high quality medical negligence service, offering the best range of funding options available.”

Graysons WE is a member of AvMA.

For confidential help and advice on medical negligence issues please contact our medical negligence team.

We are happy to offer you a free confidential consultation at which we can discuss your case and advise you on the best way forward.