MPS disappointed at small increase to the personal injury discount rate

The Lord Chancellor has today announced that he will lay a Statutory Instrument in Parliament to change the discount rate applicable to personal injury lump sum compensation payments, to minus 0.25%.

Commenting on the announcement, Simon Kayll, Chief Executive at Medical Protection Society said:

“We hope that the change to the personal injury discount rate from -0.75% to -0.25% will have an impact on the cost of clinical negligence claims in England and Wales. While we welcome this improvement, we are disappointed that it is not a more significant increase. The new rate announced today does not come close to the rate of 2.5% that was in place between 2001 and early 2017. We therefore expect that the cost of clinical negligence will remain very challenging for the public purse, the NHS, doctors and the wider economy.

“Changes to the personal injury discount can have a significant impact on the cost of settling clinical negligence claims that involve future care costs or loss of earnings. As a result, changes to the rate also have a significant impact on the total cost of clinical negligence claims against the NHS and doctors. Figures released just last week confirm that of the £2.4 billion spent by the NHS in 2018/19 on clinical negligence claims, £400m related to the impact of the change to the discount rate made in March 2017.

“We welcome the speed at which the Government has moved to reform the law on how the discount rate is set. The Government has however been much slower in introducing a long awaited and much needed strategy to address the rising cost of clinical negligence. Urgent and bold legal reforms are now desperately needed.”

ENDS

For press enquiries, please contact the MPS press office.

Notes to editor

1. Ministry of Justice announcement - https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/other/14148458.html.

About MPS

The Medical Protection Society Limited (“MPS”) is the world’s leading protection organisation for doctors, dentists and healthcare professionals. We protect and support the professional interests of more than 300,000 members around the world. Membership provides access to expert advice and support and can also provide, depending on the type of membership required, the right to request indemnity for any complaints or claims arising from professional practice.

Our in-house experts assist with the wide range of legal and ethical problems that arise from professional practice. This can include clinical negligence claims, complaints, medical and dental council inquiries, legal and ethical dilemmas, disciplinary procedures, inquests and fatal accident inquiries.

Our philosophy is to support safe practice in medicine and dentistry by helping to avert problems in the first place. We do this by promoting risk management through our workshops, E-learning, clinical risk assessments, publications, conferences, lectures and presentations.

MPS is not an insurance company. All the benefits of membership of MPS are discretionary as set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association.