The organisation that handles negligence claims for the NHS trusts in England has announced a new four-year contract to three providers to mediate disputes.
NHS Resolution, the organisation that handles negligence claims for the NHS trusts in England, has announced a new four-year contract for its panel to mediate disputes arising from personal injury and clinical negligence incidents and claims.
Three providers have been contracted from the beginning of August to deliver the service in partnership with the organisation: Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), Global Mediation and Trust Mediation.
NHS Resolution says that the goal of its claims mediation service is to support patients, claimants, families and NHS staff in working towards the resolution of incidents and legal claims without the need, expense and potential emotional distress of going to court.
The claims mediation service was originally launched in December 2016, and NHS Resolution was at the forefront of UK indemnifiers offering such a service. Since then, more than 2,100 claims made against NHS organisations have been mediated through the service.
As Healthcare Today has reported, NHS negligence claims have risen almost 11% over the past year to £3.1 billion, according to the latest annual report from NHS Resolution. At the same time, NHS Resolution’s provision for future liabilities at the end of March this year was up from £58.5 billion to £60.3 billion, driven by activity and natural growth.
