Clinical Negligence FRC Update!!!
Following on from the recent confirmation that FRC for lower value clinical negligence claims will be introduced from October, the government has now published a response to its recent consultation on that issue.
The consultation response, which can be found here – Fixed recoverable costs in lower damages clinical negligence claims – a supplementary consultation on disbursements: government response – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) is mainly concerned with disbursement issues, suggesting that medical agency fees are likely to be recoverable (although disputes as to what constitutes a reasonably agency fee seems likely to rumble on) but that Counsel’s fees pre-issue will not be. Court fees for applications for pre-action disclosure and applications to stay proceedings will also (unsurprisingly) prove recoverable as, in very welcome news, will inquest costs.
The full extent of the rules for lower value clinical negligence FRC are awaited and, as always, it will be interesting to see if the rules ultimately drafted reflect the consultation response.