Lawyers have agreed an innovative collaboration process to handle a class action against a Liverpool hospital that is designed to save the NHS millions of pounds.

Liverpool Women’s Hospital faces around 200 claims in relation to alleged negligent treatment by consultant urogynaecologist George Rowland.

The solicitors acting for the NHS Litigation Authority and for most claimants have agreed a protocol to deal with the claims, designed to keep costs to a minimum and remove the risk of financial loss to claimants if they lose.

Under its terms, the NHSLA has agreed it will not try to recover its costs in the cases it wins, and will underwrite the costs of expert fees and other disbursements paid by claimants. Lawyers for the claimants have agreed not to claim any success fees in the cases they win.

The agreement also extends the three-year deadline for claims to be brought.

Claimant representatives that have signed up to the process include local firms Goodmans, which represents over 90% of the claimants; EAD; Harkin Lloyd; BBH; and Making Justice Possible. Others may also join.

David Locke, an associate at Hill Dickinson’s Liverpool office who acts for the NHSLA and drafted the agreement, said: ‘First and foremost the protocol secures access to justice for all the claimants. Nobody is prejudiced by it. In addition, there is the potential for the NHS to make very significant savings on legal costs.’

While Rowland has been suspended from practice since September 2008, the NHS Trust’s liability in these cases remains at issue and is being considered on a case-by-case basis.