You don’t have to pay tax on clinical negligence compensation in the UK

Financial compensation awarded on a clinical negligence claim is intended, insofar as money can do so, to put the Claimant back in the position they would have been had the negligence never occurred. Damages can be awarded as a lump sum or, as is often the case with very severe injuries, as regular payments made over a period of time. Generally speaking, compensation for an injury and associated losses caused by negligent medical treatment is exempt from tax in the UK.

Believing that something has gone wrong with the medical treatment either you or a loved one has received is understandably very worrying. It can leave people feeling vulnerable and in need of answers.

The first step you should take is speak to the medical clinicians about your concerns. The NHS strives to work with a duty of candour, which means that all healthcare professionals should be open and honest with their patients when something seems to have gone wrong with the care provided. Sometimes, an explanation and an apology will be enough to help you understand what has happened, and move on from it.

If you have suffered injury as a result of medical negligence money is not always the main reason for bringing…

The long-awaited publication of the Learning Disabilities Mortality Annual Report last week only served to tell us what we already know: people with learning disabilities keep being failed by the NHS. Every year the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership publishes a report which reviews the process for the deaths of people with learning difficulties.

This year’s report told us that 1,311 cases involving a learning disability were passed to NHS England between July 2016 and November 2017 and only 103 (8%) have been reviewed so far.

In recently released figures which was reported in the Guardian, the number of ‘ghost wards’ in NHS hospitals has doubled from 32 in 2014 to 88 in 2018. The figures show that 1,429 beds were unavailable within these ‘ghost wards’ for use. In light of the well reported challenges that NHS trusts have faced this winter, it is worrying that a large number of beds were unavailable at such a critical time for the NHS.