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Actually, anonymous 13:16, it is patient safety that is in doubt with the introduction of fixed fees. Even Professor Fenn in his report acknowledged that if fixed fees prevented people from bringing claims, patient safety would be affected.

The current fixed fee regime, set as low as it is, means that many people with legitimate claims are being turned away by solicitors. Many of those either don't have the confidence, or are vulnerable in other ways, or simply don't have the available funds to pursue claims on their own. Thus, access to justice is already being eroded.

There is nothing to suggest that if fixed fees are introduced in clinical negligence - and other types of claims - that this will not worsen, affecting both patient safety and access to justice.

Further, no other government reform to date has saved the government overall. Indeed, the abolition of legal aid increased government spending far beyond what it saved in legal aid cuts. No one appears to have considered the issue, but it seems likely that fixed costs for clinical negligence will not actually save money overall, it may simply shift the costs to other government departments.