Midland Hospitals Payout Over £52m In One Year

NHS figures have revealed that Midland hospitals spent more than £52 million in litigation from 2012 to 2013.

The statistics, released by the NHS Litigation Authority, showed it paid out a total of £52,660,585 to claimants, with Heart of England NHS Trust accumulating the most.

It paid out more than £14.3 million in clinical negligence costs after receiving 245 claims against it.

Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was ranked second highest with £8.1 million in payouts.

The Trusts with the lowest litigation costs were Birmingham Community Healthcare, with a £19,410 payout, and the Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which paid out nothing.

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients’ Association, said: “It is alarming that such vast sums of money are having to be spent in this way.

“It is deeply concerning that £52 million in payouts is for one area alone in the UK.

“Large sums of money paid as compensation are indicative of poor quality of care being provided in the NHS.

“It is ultimately the patients who suffer as every penny paid out in compensation is less money for their care.”

Full List of Payouts 2012/13

Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust – £166,570
Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – £1,922,863
Birmingham Community Healthcare – £19,410
Birmingham Women’s NHS Foundation Trust – £4,465,128
Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust – nothing
Dudley & Walsall Mental Health Partnership Trust – £62,364
Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – £8,101,499
Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust – £14,342,705
Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust – £4,244,404
Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust – £5,709,248
The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – £1,095,988
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust – £6,040,460
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust – £6,489,946
Birmingham total – £52,660,585

Expert Opinion

Patient safety should be the number one point of concern for all NHS Trusts. <br/> <br/>“As a firm, we represent patients whose lives have been devastated as a result of negligence whilst under the care of hospitals throughout the country, often as a result of systemic failures which could have been avoided. <br/> <br/>“We see first-hand the impact their injuries have on them and their families. Medical negligence legal action helps to fund a lifetime of rehabilitation, care and equipment that enables them to live as normal a life as possible despite their injuries. All of them though would have preferred the injury not to have happened in the first place. <br/> <br/>“It is crucial that the NHS uses the information gathered during litigation to improve standards. Every single case provides an opportunity for lessons to be learnt and appropriate measures to be put in place to ensure the same thing never happens again.” <br/> Mandy Luckman - Partner