1.What are the main changes being introduced which clinical negligence practitioners should be aware of?
In 2019 NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSEI) were asked to identify any changes, including changes to legislation, that would help it deliver the ambitions in the NHS Long Term Plan. NHSEI made recommendations, one of which was to transform the ‘system architecture of the NHS to increase coordination of services through the creation of integrated care systems’. The Health and Care Act 2022, which received Royal Assent on 28th April 2022, arises (at least partially) out of this ambition. The Act is a 187 section, nineteen-scheduled monolith; a heavily amended collection of wide-ranging reforms to the operation of the NHS (among other things) which will, in due course, be supported by secondary legislation, statutory guidance and good practice guidance, all of which will need to be kept in mind by practitioners as it is published and updated.
Key provisions include:
2. How does this legislation fit in with other clinical negligence developments?
The Act has been in the making for a decade or more, in various forms; in that sense it forms the backdrop to other developments in this area, but it does not affect clinical negligence practitioners directly other than in the ways set out above. Of far greater concern to practitioners will be the other innovations more recently proposed, for example the extension of the fixed costs regime, and even the removal of fault-based compensation altogether. The Act merely provides the framework within which practitioners can continue to work much as before.
3. What are your predictions for future developments?
In terms of the areas covered by the Act, it will be very interesting to see how the Integrated Care System works, and whether the concerns already raised in respect of coverage are justified. The Health Services Investigation Body is a development to be welcomed, but much will depend on how assertively the Body behaves and to what extent it is prepared to investigate incidents which might give rise to a civil claim. The area of cosmetic procedures is also one to watch; there has been a massive increase in providers offering these procedures, and the consequences of negligence in their provision can be devastating to individuals. It is to be hoped that the development and promulgation of a rigorous licensing system and stringent good practice guides will go some way to preventing these incidents.
This article was first published by Lexis Nexis
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