Patients, but not doctors, like mediation for settling claims

Mediation may provide better redress for victims of medical negligence than pursuing claims through litigation, according to a three year study carried out for the Department of Health in England.

But the NHS and claimants' lawyers will need to be more willing to refer cases for mediation if the benefits are to be reaped.

The pilot study in two NHS regions—Anglia and Oxford, and Northern and Yorkshire—was launched in 1995 with the aim of analysing up to 40 mediations over two years. But the low referral rate meant …