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UK government preparing to fight costly negligence claims over NHS staff deaths

Revealed: Hancock’s £60,000 scheme for bereaved families will accept ‘no liability’ for deaths – as lawyers warn negligence bill could exceed £100m.

By James Cusick
UK government preparing to fight costly negligence claims over NHS staff deaths
Abdul Mabud Chowdhury: he warned, they ignored him | Abdul Mabud Chowdhury/Facebook
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The government is preparing for a raft of negligence cases over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. openDemocracy has learned that lawyers have insisted that any payouts to families of NHS staff who have lost their lives to COVID-19 must come with a legal warning that “the government accepts no liability for the death”.

Lawyers advising the Department of Health and Social Care are working out the legal framework after the announcement this week of a £60,000 ‘death in service’ scheme connected to the fight against COVID-19.

So far the prime minister and senior ministers have insisted that every decision taken by the government was the ‘right one made at the right time’.

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0