NHS clinical negligence costs have increased by 72% over last 5 years, Costs could reach £2.6bn a year by 2022, Current yearly costs equate to the cost of training 6500 new doctors.

Some GP surgeries may be experiencing temporary problems accessing information on their computers following Friday’s cyber-attack.

Dr Pallavi Bradshaw, Senior Medicolegal Adviser at the Medical Protection Society, said: “This is a positive step - the NHS paid out £1.5bn in clinical negligence costs in 2015/16, with legal costs accounting for 34 percent of that bill. In lower value claims it is not unusual to see lawyers' costs exceed the compensation awarded to claimants."

Simon Kayll, CEO at the Medical Protection Society, comments on the consultation exploring changes to the framework which determines the Personal Injury Discount Rate

Mr Simon Kayll, CEO at the Medical Protection Society, comments on the discount rate change in Scotland

Emma Hallinan, MPS Director of Claims Policy and Technical, said: “The NHS’s provision for clinical negligence claims has increased dramatically in recent years, so a fresh and more preventative approach to managing claims is timely, and will hopefully reduce the number of costly court cases."

Dr Pallavi Bradshaw, Senior Medicolegal Adviser at the Medical Protection Society

Around 10% of doctors and consultants in the UK (1 in 10) say they have been offered a Valentine’s Day card or gift from a patient during their career, according to a survey by a leading medical protection organisation.

The Medical Protection Society (MPS) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the General Medical Council’s (GMC) survey on its Consent guidance.

Doctors’ concerns about the implications of apologising to patients when things go wrong appear to be easing, according to research published by a leading medical protection organisation.

MPS used the consultation to make the point that the GMC’s ambition should be for information held on the register to be fully up-to-date, accurate, and dependable. This is the register’s core purpose and current function, and should remain so.