The campaign to retain the presumption that personal injury compensation should pay for private healthcare faces a new battle front, with legislation on the table to reform the status quo.

A private member's bill was laid in the Commons last week by Labour's Catherine McKinnell to amend the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act, which has been in force since 1948. The measure entitles claimants to recover the cost of private medical treatment, providing it is proportionate and necessary.

Introducing the bill in parliament last week McKinnell, formerly a practising solicitor, said the ‘long-standing anomaly’ prevents consideration that the NHS may be better placed to provide ongoing care. Medical defence groups suggest that injured people are using the NHS irrespective of the damages they have received, she said.

‘As it stands, it can lead to the state effectively being double-charged,’ McKinnell said. ‘To ensure that every pound is focused on improving care and preventing harm, we must finally amend and update this law - this 1948 relic - to reflect modern-day reality.’

Few private members’ bills make it into law, but McKinnell’s proposal – which also includes provision for a fixed recoverable costs scheme – adds to the growing number of voices saying the private healthcare assumption is outdated and irrational. The rapidly increasing cost of clinical negligence claims in particular has fuelled the movement towards reform, with the Common Public Accounts Committee saying earlier this year that changes were ‘long overdue’.

McKinnell: ‘Long-standing anomaly’ prevents consideration that NHS may be better placed to provide ongoing care

Reform of inflated clinical negligence damages 'long overdue', say MPs

The committee pointed to anecdotal evidence suggesting that many claimants still access NHS services, meaning their damages have been inflated unnecessarily.

But the claimant lobby remains vehemently in favour of preserving the provision for private healthcare damages – and says they have public support.