NHS facing £80m bill for botched treatments in Yorkshire hospitals

Figures released by the NHS Litigation Authority have shown that negligence in Yorkshire hospitals has left the NHS with a bill of £80m as well as a growing number of compensation claims.

There were 1,281 claims or reports of clinical mistakes between April 2009 and March last year, an increase of 10%, and there was an £80m bill for settling claims made against health bodies in the region during 2009-10, nine percent up on the figure for 2008-09. Of the £80m two-thirds was money paid out in damages while the remainder was spent on legal costs incurred by both the claimants and the litigation authority. More than a quarter of the overall bill was related to claims for sub-standard care for pregnant women and babies.

When claims are settled sums are paid out by the litigation authority rather than the health body concerned but bodies then make a contribution to the authority’s clinical negligence schemes; how much depends on how many operations are carried out and how risky those operations are.

Contributions from trusts in the Yorkshire region rose to £82.3m in 2009-10, up 76% on the year before. However the government has now outlined new changes to the system which will mean that the litigation authority will not have to pay additional costs such as lawyers’ success fees and a claimant’s insurance premium when it loses a case. It has also considered removing legal aid for most clinical negligence claims.

The proposals have been criticised by Peter Walsh, chief executive of the charity Action against Medical Accidents, who says that it would remove the possibility of access to justice for a number of people.