Staggering amount of pay-outs by our hospitals

Hospital trust shelling out more than ever in compensation

Medical blunders at hospitals across east Kent have cost the NHS more than £73 million in the last five years, it has emerged.

The staggering bill for clinical negligence claims – of which £24 million is costs alone – is the highest in the county and among the worst in the country.

It saw the insurance premiums for the East Kent Hospitals Trust rise to £18.3 million last year – a 10% jump from 2015/16.

Many of the claims are maternity cases, particularly those for avoidable cerebral palsy, which have been known to exceed £20 million per case, according to NHS Resolution, the body which provides trusts with medical negligence indemnity cover

Health chiefs say they are taking steps to cut medical negligence costs, including capping the fees legal firms can recoup from the taxpayer when they win low-value cases. They also plan to introduce a voluntary alternative compensation scheme for babies who suffer avoidable brain injury at birth

A spokesperson for East Kent Trust, which runs hospitals in Canterbury, Ashford and Margate, said: “Although very rare, serious incidents sometimes occur. They are investigated and we learn from the experience, changing medical procedures so that the risk of mistakes is eliminated as much as possible. As a large trust we perform more procedures than most, which means payments will be relatively higher in comparison with those of smaller trusts.”

Ken Rogers, chairman of the Concern for Health in East Kent campaign group, said: “Words don’t describe it. If the mistakes are avoidable, they shouldn’t happen in the first place and that means either procedures are rushed, we haven’t got enough staff, or there’s a lack of training.

“If these negligence claims are going up, then perhaps lessons aren’t being learned or we’re doing far, far more procedures and as a result there’s mistakes being made. This is another indication that things aren’t right in east Kent. It’s one of the biggest trusts in the country, but that doesn’t mean to say you make more mistakes than anyone else. It shouldn’t be relative to the amount of work you’re doing.”

Ken Rogers – “If negligence claims are going up, perhaps lessons aren’t being learned”