The Law Society has taken issue with a Sunday Times report alleging that fee-hungry lawyers use the NHS as a ‘£100m cash cow’ in making compensation claims.

Chief executive Des Hudson (pictured) said the best way for the NHS Litigation Authority to pare legal costs is to settle quickly, rather than focusing on solicitors’ fees.

In a letter to the newspaper, Hudson stressed: ‘What must be remembered is that no fees are payable if a claim against the NHS is unsuccessful, fees are only recovered when the NHS is at fault and if the court is satisfied that the fees claimed are appropriate. All contentious costs in relation to these claims are subject to the control of the court and there is ample opportunity for any party, including the NHS, to challenge the fees if they choose to do so.

He added: ‘Conditional fees currently provide the only satisfactory alternative method of funding a clinical negligence claim. Recently we heard legal aid minister Lord Bach say in his speech to the Advice Services Alliance that "this government has greatly extended the use of conditional fee agreements, which are particularly important in allowing access to justice for those who do not qualify for legal aid".

‘The absence of legal aid in these types of matters for the vast majority of the population means that conditional fees are one of the few ways that ordinary citizens, who fall victim of medical errors, can seek justice before the courts.

‘Solicitors are required in these types of claims under a pre-action protocol to set out details of their client’s case at a very early stage and before the issue of any proceedings. If the NHS is serious about reducing costs, it can establish at that stage whether there has been fault, admit liability there and then, thereby making a substantial saving in costs.

‘The NHSLA, according to its own website, takes an average of nearly one-and-a-half years to deal with claims against it. Instead of focusing on the fees of solicitors representing the victims of NHS blunders and inadequate care, the best way for the NHSLA to cut legal costs, including its own, is to settle quickly and for the NHS to reduce negligence.’