Overview

This bill amends the National Health Service Redress Act 2006 to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of handling claims for compensation against the NHS. It aims to achieve this by introducing time limits for claims and setting a maximum compensation amount.

Description

The key changes introduced by this bill are:

• Compensation Limit: A maximum amount for financial compensation will be set for claims made under the NHS Redress scheme.
• Time Limits: Time limits will be introduced for all stages of the claims process, including commencing proceedings, determining compensation offers, and accepting offers.
• Scope of the Scheme: Certain aspects of the original 2006 Act relating to the scheme's scope are repealed, potentially widening or narrowing (depending on the specific repealed sections) the types of cases eligible for redress.
• Commencement Date of 2006 Act: This bill retroactively sets the commencement date of sections 1 to 16 of the 2006 Act to April 1, 2012.

Government Spending

The bill states that any expenditure incurred by a Minister of the Crown or a government department due to the Act, and any increase in sums payable under other Acts, will be paid from public funds. No specific figures are provided in the text.

Groups Affected

Groups potentially affected include:

• Individuals making claims against the NHS: They will be affected by the introduction of time limits and the potential maximum compensation amount.
• NHS Trusts and healthcare providers: The changes may affect their workload and financial liability.
• Lawyers and legal professionals handling NHS redress claims: They will be impacted by the changes in the claims process and may see an increase or decrease in the number of cases, depending on the net effects of the bill.

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