More than £265m paid out for NHS blunders in Wales
WALES’ health boards have paid out more than £265m to patients and their families following medical errors over the past four years.
A freedom of information (FOI) request by the Welsh Conservatives found that between 2016-17 and 2019-20 a total of £265,503,877 was paid out following 3,081 separate medical negligence claims.
But with both Hywel Dda and Cardiff and Vale University Health Boards unable to provide payments made in 2019-2020, the overall figure is likely to be even higher.
Swansea Bay UHB paid out the most over the course of the four years, £68.7m, closely followed by Betsi Cadwaladr UHB at £65.5m.
But it was Betsi Cadwaladr UHB, which has been in special measures for more than five years, that notched up the highest number of claims over the period at just shy of 1,000 (990).
Swansea Bay UHB was second with 600 followed by Aneurin Bevan UHB with 503.
Among the highest payouts in a single claim was £6.37m in Cardiff and Vale UHB and £4.14m in Swansea Bay UHB.
Delays in diagnosis, failures to identify infection, treatment errors, and a patient suffering an acquired brain injury were all listed as successful claims made against the health boards.
Welsh Conservative health spokesman Andrew RT Davies MS said: “A total of 3,081 people made a claim and behind each figure is a person who was not provided with the level of care and support they were entitled to. Importantly, my thoughts go out to all those who have been let down. Where a patient has been let down, rightly answers are sought.
“Our fantastic Welsh NHS staff are under immense pressure in delivering care to thousands of patients up and down Wales, but they also need to be given more confidence to perform their vital duties – not left out to dry when an accident occurs.
“On the whole our NHS in Wales delivers a first-class treatment to the people of Wales, but where bad practice occurs it must be rooted out.”
In response a Welsh Government spokesman said: “Clinical negligence payouts represent a tiny fraction of the hundreds of thousands of people treated every year by the NHS.
“With an increasingly complicated and modern healthcare system, problems can unfortunately happen. Patients and the NHS workforce are actively encouraged to report all incidents so they can be investigated openly and lessons learnt.”