Nhs Medical Negligence Liabilities Hit £60bn Amid Surge In Maternity Payouts

The NHS’s full liabilities for aesculapian negligence person deed £60bn, driven by a jump successful childbirth wounded cases that costs much than £11m each connected mean to settle.

The full sum of money nan wellness work successful England whitethorn person to salary retired to settee lawsuits for mistakes by unit has quadrupled from £14.4bn successful 2006-07, amid much claims and rising ineligible costs.

The costs of settling objective negligence ineligible actions has soared complete nan aforesaid play from £1.1bn to £3.6bn, pinch overmuch of that jump related to babies suffering encephalon harm while being born.

The figures are contained successful a study by nan National Audit Office (NAO), which urged NHS chiefs to do much to forestall nan harm.

The £60bn liability that nan NAO has identified is an summation connected nan £58.2bn astatine which nan Commons nationalist accounts committee (PAC) put nan fig successful May.

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, nan PAC chair, said nan £60bn measure was “astounding”.

“This is nan 2nd largest liability crossed authorities [after nationalist assemblage pensions] and forecasts foretell that these costs could proceed to turn substantially,” he said.

During 2024-25 GP services accounted for nan largest number of cases nan NHS settled – 2,914. However, while cases involving obstetrics wherever a kid was near pinch cerebral palsy aliases different encephalon harm were less successful number – 1,016 – they were very costly to settle.

They costs £1.6bn to settle, much than 4 times nan adjacent astir costly type of injuries – “other” (£337m) – and paediatrics (£325m).

“Despite advancement successful containing nan number of objective negligence claims successful immoderate specialities, nan expanding costs of nan mini number of very precocious worth claims is driving higher costs for taxpayers”, said Gareth Davies, nan caput of nan NAO.

Maternity claims costs £11.2m each connected mean to settle, nan NAO revealed. It besides disclosed that:

• the measure for negligence is expected to scope £4.1bn successful 2029-30

• the number of cases settled has much than doubled from 5,625 successful 2006-07 to 13,329 successful 2024-25

• the full number of settlements has fallen successful 11 specialties but risen successful six others

“There has been an unacceptable emergence successful nan costs of objective negligence claims – billions that should person been spent connected frontline services, ” a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said.

“From overhauling our surgery information scenery to grasping nan superior problems successful maternity care, this authorities is grabbing clasp of this problem and taking nan decisive action patients and taxpayers deserve.

“Our 10-year wellness scheme makes clear that diligent information is nan bedrock of a patient NHS and we are moving to guarantee we trim nan incidents that lead to claims.”

Meanwhile, nan full costs of repairing hospitals successful England has soared to almost £16bn, NHS figures showed.

The disclosure prompted NHS leaders to pass that patients are being put astatine consequence from “decrepit” buildings that successful immoderate cases are “falling to bits, literally”.

The measure for repairing and decently maintaining nan NHS’s banal of hospitals has jumped from £13.8bn past twelvemonth to £15.9bn – a 16% emergence – according to nan NHS’s yearly estates return accusation postulation dataset.

Daniel Elkeles, main executive of hospitals assemblage NHS Providers, said: “Critical parts of nan NHS are falling to bits, literally, aft years of underinvestment nationally. The information of patients and unit is astatine risk.

“We can’t support wasting money propping up ageing buildings not fresh for purpose.”

Siva Anandaciva, head of argumentation astatine nan King’s Fund thinktank, said nan £15.9bn fig is “more than nan full superior fund for this twelvemonth and £2.2bn higher than past year”.

“Decrepit NHS buildings person a existent and detrimental effect connected diligent care, pinch regular examples of flooded corridors, reduced theatre capacity and roofs astatine consequence of falling in,” he added.