Where the Political Parties stand on Issues affecting Clinical Negligence

We all wait for a decision on whether an agreement can be reached in this uncertain time. Here is a summary on how each of the parties stand on issues affecting clinical negligence.

Conservatives say they will:

• replace the Human Rights Act with a UK Bill of Rights

• conduct reviews of family law, legal aid, and libel laws

• make the performance of the NHS totally transparent by publishing information about the kind of results that healthcare providers are achieving, so there is no hiding place for failure

• reduce box-ticking and process targets

• fight hospital infections by providing more single rooms

Labour say they will:

• ensure all hospitals are clean and safe for both patients and staff

• every patient will be screened for MRSA

• establish national standards of infection control but get tougher each year

• the safety regulator will have the power to close wards, impose fines or order cleaning wherever necessary.

Liberal Democrats say they will

• establish a working group to determine appropriate levels of financial assistance for people affected by contamination of blood products with HIV.

• introduce a series of reforms to improve patient safety

• require hospitals to be open about mistakes, and always tell patients if something has gone wrong

• make it illegal for a Local Health Board to allow a doctor to work in the UK without passing robust language and competence tests.