Cost of NHS blunders in North

COMPENSATION BILL FOR TWO YEARS OF NEGLIGENCE

THE compensation bill for NHS blunders in the North East hit £100m over the past two years, figures have revealed.

Official data shows that health trusts in the area shelled out a staggering £108,367,7062 on clinical negligence claims in 2014/15 and 2015/16.

The figures show payouts for compensation and legal bills soared from £44,137,814 in 2014/15 to £64,128,361 in 2015/16.

They mark a large rise from the £78m paid id outt d duringi th the previousi t two years, between 2012/13 and 2014/15.

The highest payouts over the past two years were made from the Newcastle Upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust, which had a bill of £22,777,791. Hospital bosses said this reflected the size of the trust and the complex medical cases it is involved with.

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust made payments of more than £15m in 2015/2016, and just over £5m the year before.

But the trust said some claims can take years to be resolved and the leap in cash spent did not reflect in increase in the number of claims.

The figures were obtained from the