Liam Byrne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to Recommendation 8 of his Department’s Triennial Review of the NHS Litigation Authority (NHS LA), published in July 2015, when he expects the NHS LA to publish its evaluation report of its pilot mediation programme.

Ben Gummer

The NHS Litigation Authority (NHS LA) recently undertook a mediation pilot in order to encourage and increase the use of mediation as a means of resolving claims against the National Health Service. The success of the pilot was evaluated and has demonstrated that mediation is highly effective as a forum for delivering early resolution for families and healthcare staff, particularly in delivering quality outcomes which are about more than just financial compensation. The lessons learned from the evaluation are being considered carefully in order to inform the NHS LA’s strategy to increase mediation and potentially, to offer a mediation service. The Triennial Review did not state publication of the mediation pilot outcomes.