The NHS has reportedly turned to Conditional Fee Agreements (No Win No Fee) despite being a strong critique of the system in the past.
The NHS has reported a large rise in cases against them which are being funded by Conditional Fee Agreements (CFAs) and they have strongly criticised the system reporting that it significantly increases the legal costs incurred in bringing medical negligence claims.
Despite their past views, however, the NHS has recently entered into an agreement with Law Firm Capsticks and is now embracing the system to recover money lost to fraud.
When acting on a CFA, lawyers do not recover any fees for the time spent investigating a claim should it be unsuccessful. This can often amount to months or years worth of work and therefore, several thousands of pounds may be unrecoverable. Investigating a claim in such a way is therefore a significant financial risk to law firms and to reflect this, Lawyer’s fees are often increased should settlement be achieved.
In many cases, legal costs would be minimal if the NHS admitted liability at an early stage; however, they very rarely do so. Liability is often denied until cases are progressed into advanced stages and thus legal costs are incurred unnecessarily.
The NHS are entitled to use CFAs, however, it is quite surprising that they are now embracing a system which they have been strongly in opposition to in the past.
By clinical negligence solicitor, Claire Stockley
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