Following a rigorous and highly competitive retender process, NHS Resolution has announced the award of a new three-year contract to manage its successful and highly-regarded claims mediation service.
Four providers have been contracted to deliver the service in partnership with the organisation; the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) and Trust Mediation Limited to mediate disputes arising from personal injury and clinical negligence incidents and claims; and St. John’s Buildings Limited and Costs-ADR to mediate disputes arising from the recoverability of legal costs. Providers will operate on a ‘fixed-cost’ model, helping to keep costs in check and ensuring the preservation of valuable resources for frontline patient care.
The claims mediation service was originally launched in December 2016 and NHS Resolution was in the vanguard of UK indemnifiers offering such a service. Since then, the service has successfully mediated over 1,000 claims made against NHS organisations.
Even though the vast majority of claims made against NHS providers are resolved without formal court proceedings (over 70 per cent in 2018/19), as an organisation we remain committed to reducing the number of cases going into formal litigation even further.
The goal of our claims mediation service is to support patients, claimants, families and NHS staff in working towards the resolution of incidents, legal claims and cost disputes without the need, expense and potential emotional distress of going to court.
The reasons why claims continue to go to court are varied. However, research carried out by the Behavioural Insights Team (a research agency partnered with the Cabinet Office) suggests that one of the key drivers for compensation claims is poor communication and a lack of explanation as to why a clinical incident occurred in the first place.
Through our claims mediation service, all parties involved in the claim have the opportunity to sit down together and talk the incident through. This provides an opportunity for claimants to have their questions answered and feel as though their concerns are being recognised and properly addressed.
In 2019/20 alone, over 400 cases went through NHS Resolution’s claims mediation service, an increase of around 8 per cent on the previous year, with 80% of cases being settled either on the mediation day itself or within 28 days of this.
Read more about NHS Resolution’s claims mediation service.
