Sir Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many legal cases brought against the NHS by mesh-damaged women have been settled (a) in and (b) out of court in each of the past ten years. [33845]
[Due for Answer on 3 March. Answered on 11 March.]
HOLDING ANSWER: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
ANSWER
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention (Ashley Dalton): NHS Resolution (NHSR) manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England, and while the information is not available in the format requested, they have provided the data below. This information only covers England and not the rest of the United Kingdom, and NHSR has interpreted ‘in court’ as being where the court proceedings have been served, rather than where a case has gone to trial.
Claims notified and open are not guaranteed to be settled in the same year and can take many years to be concluded. Claims notified in any given year will often relate to incidents that have occurred many years prior. Claims closed and settled in one year will often relate to claims notified in different years. Many of the claims notified will have been repudiated and settled without damages paid.
It is also possible that the same claim may appear more than once in a dataset, across different year groups, for example, where the case has been closed as unsuccessful, challenged, reopened, and closed again at conclusion.
The following table shows the number of clinical claims and incidents received between the financial years 2014/15 and 2023/24, where the claim has been identified as a vaginal mesh claim:
|
Year of notification |
Number of claims |
|
2014/15 |
5 |
|
2015/16 |
12 |
|
2016/17 |
15 |
|
2017/18 |
54 |
|
2018/19 |
70 |
|
2019/20 |
209 |
|
2020/21 |
396 |
|
2021/22 |
226 |
|
2022/23 |
166 |
|
2023/24 |
99 |
|
Total |
1,252 |
Source: NHSR
In addition, the following table shows the number of clinical claims settled between the financial years 2015/16 and 2023/24 with a damages payment, where the claim has been identified as a vaginal mesh claim, broken down by litigation status:
|
Year of settlement and litigation status |
Number of claims |
|
2015/16 |
# |
|
Litigation |
# |
|
No Litigation |
# |
|
2016/17 |
# |
|
Litigation |
# |
|
No Litigation |
# |
|
2017/18 |
16 |
|
Litigation |
8 |
|
No Litigation |
8 |
|
2018/19 |
# |
|
Litigation |
8 |
|
No Litigation |
# |
|
2019/20 |
# |
|
Litigation |
11 |
|
No Litigation |
# |
|
2020/21 |
32 |
|
Litigation |
22 |
|
No Litigation |
10 |
|
2021/22 |
61 |
|
Litigation |
19 |
|
No Litigation |
42 |
|
2022/23 |
116 |
|
Litigation |
27 |
|
No Litigation |
89 |
|
2023/24 |
101 |
|
Litigation |
22 |
|
No Litigation |
79 |
|
Total |
356 |
Source: NHSR
Finally, the following table shows the number of clinical claims settled between the financial years 2015/16 and 2023/24 with no damages paid, where the claim has been identified as a vaginal mesh claim, broken down by litigation status:
|
Year of settlement and litigation status |
Number of claims |
|
2015/16 |
# |
|
Litigation |
# |
|
No Litigation |
8 |
|
2016/17 |
# |
|
Litigation |
# |
|
No Litigation |
6 |
|
2017/18 |
# |
|
Litigation |
# |
|
No Litigation |
7 |
|
2018/19 |
43 |
|
Litigation |
5 |
|
No Litigation |
38 |
|
2019/20 |
# |
|
Litigation |
# |
|
No Litigation |
43 |
|
2020/21 |
90 |
|
Litigation |
6 |
|
No Litigation |
84 |
|
2021/22 |
167 |
|
Litigation |
64 |
|
No Litigation |
103 |
|
2022/23 |
179 |
|
Litigation |
28 |
|
No Litigation |
151 |
|
2023/24 |
120 |
|
Litigation |
10 |
|
No Litigation |
110 |
|
Total |
678 |
Source: NHSR
Notes: NHSR has supressed low figures as NHSR believe that disclosure of information to a member of the public would contravene one or more of the data protection principles. In some instances, for low numbers of claims, namely fewer than 5, in each category, the likelihood exists that individuals who are the subject of this information may be identified. As this information is sensitive personal data, NHSR believes it has a greater responsibility to protect those individuals’ identities, as disclosure could potentially cause damage and/or distress to those involved. Due to small numbers in the tables, NHSR has used a ‘#’ symbol in the relevant field.