Justice Secretary David Gauke has unveiled plans to introduce the Civil Liability Bill to parliament. The new Bill includes changes to the way the discount rate is set.

The Department of Health & Social Care recently launched a review in to the application of Gross Negligence manslaughter charges in healthcare settings. Read the full MPS submission to this review here.

The MPTS has concluded that the GMC’s allegations against surgeon David Sellu, whose gross negligent manslaughter case was quashed in November 2016, are not proved.

The Government has announced that an expert group will be formed to work on introducing a new cap on the amount of costs that lawyers can recover in clinical negligence cases. The proposed cap will be applied to all cases up to £25,000 and will help to save the NHS up to £45 million a year.

While there is need for significant improvements to the GMC’s Fitness to Practise processes, and the legal framework which underpins regulation, the GMC should remain the dedicated regulator of the medical profession, the Medical Protection Society (MPS) said today.

Jeremy Hunt MP has announced an urgent review into how gross negligence manslaughter is applied in healthcare, following concerns around the Dr Bawa-Garba case.

Commenting on the concerns around e-portfolios, following the judgement on the Dr Bawa-Garba case – Dr Pallavi Bradshaw, Senior Medicolegal Adviser at Medical Protection said...

Medical Protection welcomes the insights which can be drawn from the General Medical Council’s (GMC) ‘State of Medical Education and Practice in the UK’ 2015 report.1 The report highlighted that of 2,750 complaints that the GMC investigated in 2014, 1,428 closed without further action. This means that more than half of all complaints that the GMC investigated closed with no further action on the practitioner. It was also reported that the average GMC case length was 6.2 months.

A significant number of GPs say the fear of being sued is a major factor in their decisions to order more tests, make more referrals or prescribe medication – according to survey results published by a leading medical protection organisation.

The General Medical Council’s State of Medical Education and Practice 2017 report has been published today. Commenting, Dr Pallavi Bradshaw, Senior Medicolegal Adviser at the Medical Protection Society, said: “This report shows that the vast majority of GMC investigations are closed without action, the end result being that over a thousand doctors go through a needless, stressful and slow process each year...

The Government should aim to provide absolute clarity on what and who will be covered in the new state-backed indemnity scheme for GPs in England, and ensure the scheme is set up in doctors’ interests, the Medical Protection Society (MPS) told the Westminster Health Forum.

The Justice Select Committee has just published its report on the Government’s draft legislation on the discount rate. Commenting, Director of Claims Policy and Legal at the Medical Protection Society, Emma Hallinan, said...

The Department of Health has directed NHS Resolution to establish and administer the state-backed indemnity scheme for GPs in England, however details on how the scheme will operate are still to be confirmed.

The proposed state-backed indemnity scheme is welcome news for GPs in England, but the underlying issue of rising clinical negligence costs still needs to be tackled - Alex Chalk MP told MPs, peers and health leaders at a parliamentary event last night.

21 November 2017: We must strive for cultural change in healthcare where staff are trained and supported to be open about mistakes, learn from them and where senior clinicians lead by example - the Medical Protection Society (MPS) told a Scottish Parliament Health & Sport Committee today.