Conclusion 11

In our July 2021 report examining the safety of maternity services, we recommended that the Government remove the disregard of NHS care in the award of damages. We have seen no evidence to change our recommendation. To argue that patients injured by errors in their NHS care would not want further care or treatment from the NHS is to mispresent the way healthcare is provided in England. The NHS is not a single entity, but a complex and comprehensive system made up of multiple organisations all dedicated to providing care at the point of need. An injured patient NHS litigation reform 57 receiving private care in a private hospital is likely to be under the care of an NHS- trained clinician who continues to practise within the health service. Should the NHS in England injure a patient it should be incumbent on the NHS to provide the necessary care to restore the injured party, as closely as possible, to good health.