Give teachers and nurses a 5% pay rise
Needless amputations, disfigurement, broken bones, heart attacks... the human cost of the worst nursing shortage in the history of the NHS
HOSPITAL blunders have hit record levels as the worst staffing crisis in the history of the NHS bites.
Compensation claims soared by 72% last year to £28.9million after cashstarved sites neared breaking point.
In a total of 506 cases, patients proved they suffered needless pain, amputations, cosmetic disfigurement, broken bones and heart attacks because they were not nursed properly.
The previous year, £16.8million was paid out, up from just £1.6million in 2009 – the year before the Tories took power.
The data was revealed in a Freedom of Information response by NHS Resolution, which deals with negligence claims.
It outlined successful claims with a primary or secondary cause code of “inadequate nursing care”.
The findings come after nurses rallied outside Parliament to warn that the record 40,000 unfilled posts are making hospital wards unsafe. Wendy Preston, head of nursing practice at the Royal College of Nursing, said: “Patients deserve the best care possible and it’s unacceptable this is not always the case.
“There is a proven link between safe staffing levels and quality of care. And with 40,000 nursing vacancies across England, it is unsurprising patients are not getting the care they need. The Government needs to take immediate action. Finances should never come before patient care and safety.”
The claims form only a small part of the NHS’s overall negligence bill – predicted to rise to £3.2billion a year by 2020 – but is seen as a measure of safe nurse staffing levels on wards.
The primary injury in 62 cases was listed as “fatality” while in 13 cases it was “brain damage”. In 151 cases, patients won their case after claiming poor nursing care led to them developing pressure sores and 108 because they suffered a broken bone. Another 10 said
Finances should never come before patient care and safety WENDY PRESTON, RIGHT, ON CASH AND STAFF CRISIS
that poor care led to them getting a bug while 63 said they suffered pain.
People who said poor nursing led to a heart attack got an average £50,000, while payouts averaged £16,000 for broken bones, £28,000 for pressure sores and £650,000 for brain damage. The average for patients who said poor care led to complications was around £60,000.
The Royal College of Nursing is on the verge of taking industrial action, arguing that the Government has forced an exodus from the profession. The 40,000 unfilled posts is double the number in 2013. Nurses, like all public sector workers, are subject to the 1% annual pay cap. The RCN estimates this has left them, on average, £3,000 a year worse off. The Government also axed the bursary for those entering the profession. Ms Preston added: “Scrapping the cap on pay would be a good first step on the way to attracting more people – and recognising the hardworking nurses we already have.” Julie Bailey, founder of Cure the NHS, said: “Spending public money to compensate those who have been harmed is a silly way to spend valuable resources. There is enough evidence that tells us if we look after NHS staff they are better equipped to look after patients.” The Trusts with the worst record for poor nursing care payouts in the past two years are Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals Trust and Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Trust, both with 29.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust notched 24, while the Nottingham University Hospitals Trust, Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, Sheffield Teaching Hospital Trust and Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust all had 17.
Overall spending on the clinical negligence scheme has quadrupled from £400million in 2006-07 to £1.6billion in 2016-17. In the same 10 years, the number of successful clinical negligence claims where damages were awarded rose from 2,800 to 7,300. Last year, 590 claims were settled with an award of more than £250,000, while NHS Resolution spent £602million on legal costs.
A spokesman for NHS Improvement said: “We know nurses work hard to deliver high quality, safe care to patients.
“The NHS is already working hard to develop ways to improve patient safety.”