Clinical negligence lawyers have denied charges of profiteering following an National Health Service announcement that total claims could almost double to £713m next year.

The NHS said the estimated £317m increase in the total bill for 2009/10 was the result of changes to the way payments are calculated, the delayed settlement of more than 100 high-value cases from previous years and rising solicitors’ costs.

Linda Lee, Law Society deputy vice-president and consultant at charity Action against Medical Accidents, said critics who blamed solicitors for the increased cost of litigation are ‘looking through the wrong end of the telescope’.

She said: ‘Instead of vilifying the victims and their representatives, they should be reducing the number of accidents that happen in our hospitals.’

Medical negligence solicitor Seamus Edney of Swindon firm SJ Edney said lawyers’ costs had risen because the government had taken away legal aid and encouraged conditional fee agreements (CFAs) in its place.

‘There is also the question of costs awarded,’ Edney said. ‘The NHS Litigation Authority’s panel of solicitors is made up of top firms who charge top rates. If the NHS loses, it’s not just our costs it has to pay – it has its own costs, too.’