Leeds trust tops list of NHS hospital compensation payments
The Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS indemnity trust paid out more money in compensation awards in the year to March 2014 than any other English hospital trust, a medical indemnity body has revealed.
The Medical Defence Union (MDU), the leading indemnifier of UK doctors, revealed the figures as it called on politicians to take action to prevent spiralling increases in multi-million pound compensation awards affecting Leeds hospitals.
In 2013/14, £22.4 million was paid out on behalf of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust by the NHS litigation authority to compensate patients and to pay legal fees in clinical negligence claims.* This was the highest amount of compensation paid out on behalf of any trust that year. The money comes from NHS funds, and is the equivalent of more than 750 nurse or 550 junior doctor salaries.
Dr Michael Devlin, MDU head of professional standards and liaison, said:
“It is important to make it clear that the size of payments is no reflection on patient safety or on clinical standards. Compensation awards are so high because they reflect the money the NHS has to pay to fund care for negligently damaged patients in the private sector.
“The staggering amounts paid out on behalf of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and other English hospitals means there is less money for care of other patients at a time when the NHS is facing unprecedented demand and pressure on costs. In the year ending 31 March 2014, over £1bn was paid out in total on behalf of all English hospitals.
"We are facing a nationwide problem with the cost of clinical negligence claims. Claims inflation has been rising at a constant 10% for the last few years and compensation awards are doubling in value every seven years. Patients who have been negligently harmed need to be properly compensated so they know their health and social care needs will be met, but the NHS cannot continue to pay claims at this increasing rate.
"This is not a sustainable situation for the NHS or for taxpayers, who are footing these bills. We have written to Hilary Benn, MP for Leeds Central to ask him to raise the need for legal reform urgently in parliament."
Compensation awards can run to many millions of pounds because defendant bodies like the NHS litigation authority and the MDU are prevented from compensating on the basis that care will be provided by the NHS and local authorities. For example, in one NHS case, a child who suffered severe brain damage as a result of negligence has been awarded compensation that could amount to £24 million over her lifetime.
Dr Devlin continued:
"The size of compensation awards made on behalf of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust makes a compelling case for legal reform. We hope that MPs will engage with us on behalf of their constituents. We would like to see the problem of spiralling damages awards being taken seriously by parliament and for there to be informed debate about how this money can be retained in the NHS for the benefit of all patients."
