NHS CLAIMS
Trust is among top for payouts
Medical mistakes at west Kent hospitals have reached more than £60 million in the last five years, it has emerged.
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (MTW) was among the top 20 trusts in the country for negligence payouts – including court costs – with the bill coming to £61,754,594.37.
Many of the multi- million pound actions are maternity cases, particularly those for avoidable cerebral palsy, which can exceed £20m per claim, according to NHS Resolution, the body providing trusts with medical negligence indemnity cover.
The amounts paid by MTW have risen in recent years.
It was £19.5m in 2016-17, compared to £13.1m in 2015-16, £11m in 2014-15, £8.6m in 2013-14 and £9.4m in 2012-13.
Hospitals make an annual insurance-like contribution to NHS Resolution which uses the cash to settle all clinical negli- gence claims, so any funds paid out in litigation cases are not taken out of the frontline budget for patient care.
However, hospital finances have been impacted by rising premiums in a bid to cover those costs, which increased significantly in 2016-17 compared to previous years, according to MTW’s annual accounts.
MTW paid some £18.2m last year – compared to £16.6m in 2015-16 – though the trust argues soaring costs do not compromise patient care because the payments are planned well in advance.
Also featuring in the top 20 health bodies for high payments is East Kent Hospitals Trust, which gave out £73.8m over the five years.
Barts Health NHS Trust in East London had the highest payouts in the period, of more than £123m.
A spokesperson for MTW said: “An increase in payments is not by itself a generalised indication of the quality of care we provide.
“Cases can stretch over many years and payments can be reflective of large single sums or simply, more claims being settled during one year than another.
“Despite the increase in pay- ments, it is important to note that MTW has, in fact, had fewer formal clinical claims opened over the past few years.”