Clinical Negligence Made Clear

Clinical Negligence Made Clear
their injury and loss.
The Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948: rules that when determining
the compensation payable to a claimant for expenses, the courts shall
disregard the possibility of avoiding those expenses by making use of the
NHS.
The Fatal Accidents Act 1976: permits certain people to bring claims for
the losses they have suffered as a result of the death of another. Typically,
in clinical negligence claims, a partner or child of the deceased will use the
Act to bring a claim for compensation where the deceased was a patient
who has died as a result of unacceptable clinical error.
The Limitation Act 1980: sets down a three year time limit for claimants
to bring a clinical negligence action, subject to a court’s discretion to extend
that period in circumstances set out in the Act.
The Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997: lays down a scheme
allowing the government to recover, from a compensation award, the sum
equivalent to the state benefits paid to the claimant in respect of their injuries.
The Mental Capacity Act 2005: provides a framework for the assessment
of a person’s mental capacity to litigate and to manage the proceeds of
litigation.
Some examples of secondary legislation relevant to clinical negligence litigation
are:
The Civil Procedure Rules 1998: govern the detailed procedures to be followed
when bringing or defending a clinical negligence claim.
Damages (Personal Injury) Order 2017: fixed the rate of return claimants
are expected to achieve when investing their compensation, so as to help
determine how future losses and expenses should be assessed.
Human Rights
International law plays a large part in some other fields of civil law, but
not in clinical negligence. Nevertheless, one aspect of international law has
featured increasingly in recent years. The UK had a significant role in the
drafting of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the foundation
of the European Court of Human Rights. The Convention and court
have nothing to do with the European Union. Britain’s exit from the EU
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