The number of NHS Medical Negligence Claims is likely to rise in the next year – at least that’s what the new boss of the NHS Litigation Authority says.

In advance of the government plans to reform the funding of personal injury and medical negligence compensation claims next April, Catherine Dixon, the NHS Litigation Authority Chief Executive, expects a short-term rise in the number of claims made – up from 9,143 –last year’s all-time record number of NHS negligence claims.

The theory appears to be that there will be more activity to get potential claimants to sign no win no fee agreements prior to April and therefore there will be a temporary bulge in the number of claims made,. This comes on the back of a record year for NHS claims – when for the first time in the 16 year history of the NHS Litigation Authority, compensation payouts for NHS medical mistakes exceeded £1bn.

Ms Dixon seemed optimistic about the latest figures – on the basis that the number of compensation claims which were actually settled or closed increased last year by 13% to 14,171, whilst the average length of time it took the claim to be resolved dropped by 25% to just over 42 months.

Speaking to the Law Society Gazette, the NHS Litigation Authority Chief Executive denied that the authority was unrealistic in trying to fight far many valid claims for medical negligence compensation. However she admitted that it was about time that the authority improve its level of communication with NHS trusts – in particular to make sure that they learnt lessons from past errors and improve the sharing of information.