NHS Resolution has launched its Annual report and accounts for 2020/21.
The year in question was one of tremendous pressure for the NHS given the Covid-19 pandemic. The report pays tribute to our NHS staff for all that they have done to keep us all safe at this difficult time.
NHS Resolution set out two priorities as the pandemic took hold: to protect the health and well-being of our staff and to do everything we could to support the NHS in doing what it needed to do to combat the pandemic. The report therefore sets out not only how NHS Resolution has performed over the year but also the action taken to adapt existing services and deliver new ones, such as new indemnity schemes to support the pandemic response.
The year saw a significant drop in litigation, in line with our strategy to keep cases out of court but also due to a welcome improvement in co-operation between the parties. Three quarters of claims resolved in the year without court proceedings with processes such as mediation moving onto digital platforms, reducing the additional distress and cost which is associated with litigation.
Covid-related claims are still very much an unknown, and the true impact of the pandemic on future claims patterns remains to be seen. To ensure that indemnity did not present a barrier to pandemic healthcare arrangements, NHS Resolution launched the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Coronavirus (CNSC) in April 2020 and, later in the year, the Coronavirus Temporary Indemnity Scheme (CTIS) as different requirements, such as indemnity cover for designated care settings, emerged.
Overall, 2020/21 saw a reduction in NHS Resolution’s provision from £84.1 billion to £82.8 billion, largely due to a lower than expected number of incoming claims and a reduction in expected future claims inflation.
The year also saw the establishment of the Existing Liabilities Scheme for General Practice (ELSGP), with NHS Resolution taking on claims handling responsibility for historical liabilities of existing and former general practice members of the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland from 6 April 2020. Claims handling responsibility for general practice members of the Medical Protection Society was taken on by the organisation from 1 April 2021.
A planned step-change in NHS Resolution’s digital and analytical capabilities saw the recruitment of our first Chief Information Officer, a collaboration with the NHSX Artificial Intelligence Lab and pilot work to explore the potential of machine learning in relation to the valuable information which NHS Resolution holds on the causes of harm in healthcare.
In a challenging time, the report provides an account of an organisation performing well in all of its business areas whilst continuing to drive forward an ambitious strategy and, like many, striving to meet the particular challenges that the pandemic presented.
NHS Resolution’s Annual report and accounts 2020/21 is now available.
