In an action for damages for personal injuries (including any such action arising out of a contract), the following possibilities are to be disregarded in determining the reasonableness of any expenses—
(a) the possibility of avoiding those expenses or part of them by taking advantage of—
(i) facilities available under—
(A) the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978,
(B) the National Health Service Act 2006, or
(C) the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006, or
(ii) any corresponding facilities in Northern Ireland,
(b) where the expenses relate to the provision of care, accommodation or equipment for the injured person, any possibility of avoiding those expenses or part of them through the exercise, in relation to the injured person, of any function of a public authority.”.
(3) Section 2 of the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948 is repealed.
NOTE
Section 4 implements recommendations 8 and 10 by inserting new section 10A into the Administration of Justice Act 1982.
Where an injured person incurs expenses relating to medical treatment, care, accommodation and/or equipment, the existence of facilities and/or equipment available from the National Health Service or a public authority is to be disregarded in determining the reasonableness of those expenses (paragraphs 3.67 to 3.81 and 3.91 to 3.123 of the Report).
The effect of these provisions is that in an action for damages the responsible person may be liable to pay reasonable expenses arising from private medical treatment or private care, accommodation or equipment even where the injured person could have avoided those expenses by using NHS facilities or facilities provided by a public authority.
Section 2 of the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948 already provides for private medical expenses to be disregarded in the way described above. Paragraph (a) of new section 10A enacts these provisions in the 1982 Act so that provision on private medical treatment can be dealt with in the same statute as provision on private care, accommodation and equipment. Section 2 of the 1948 Act is consequently repealed by subsection (3) of section 4.