Government confirms fixed costs in clinical negligence from 1 Oct, reaction from Hodge Jones & Allen

Following the news that Health minister Ben Gummer has confirmed fixed fees in clinical negligence will come into force by 1st October 2016, Julie Say, clinical negligence partner at Hodge Jones & Allen, says: “I am dismayed to hear that Ben Gummer has indicated a fixed recoverable costs regime will come into force on 1 October 2016. It appears that the government is intent on introducing a fixed costs regime come what may and that the long-promised consultation will be nothing more than an exercise in how a fixed costs regime should work, rather than considering how clinical negligence cases are run and the drivers behind legal costs in such cases.”