Welsh NHS boards pay out over £100m in personal injury claims over three years

7th January 2014

Wales Online has reported that over the last three years, the NHS in Wales has spent more than £100 million on personal injury claims.

Figures released by six of Wales’ seven health boards and the Welsh ambulance service reveal that £117.6 million has been paid to personal injury compensation claimants since 2010.

Overall:

– The ambulance service paid out £2.3 million

– Powys paid out £6.1 million

– Cwm Taf Health Board paid out £14.5 million

– Hywel Dda paid out £9.6 million

– Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board paid out £35.4 million

– Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board paid out £26.2 million

– Cardiff and Vale University Health Board paid out £23.1 million.

Most health boards have seen their overall medical negligence and personal injury compensation claim bill remain relatively static, but a few boards have paid out significantly more than usual after being hit by a number of big compensation claims.

If the NHS is to see sustained declines in the amount of money it pays out in medical negligence compensation, it will have to improve the ways it learns from its mistakes and to improve its openness and transparency. The Francis Report has provided a range of recommendations that the NHS should follow to improve patients’ health and safety, which should support it in seeing maintained reductions in the number of medical negligence cases.

Medical negligence cannot just be seen as a cost that the NHS Litigation Authority has to deal with – every clinical negligence claim is someone who has been injured unnecessarily when they needed help the most, and some claims involve people who will experience life-long health problems and difficulties as a result of their injuries.

With NHS authorities currently strapped-for-cash, improving the health and safety of services provided may offer benefits greater than they realise.

People who have received substandard care should be entitled to receive all the redress they deserve, and as well as personal injury compensation, this may involve recovery of other losses, investigations into the circumstances of their injuries, and in some cases, prosecutions.

If you want to make a claim for compensation, the personal injury solicitors at Clearwater Solicitors are here to give you the help and assistance you need. We are waiting to help you out – just call us on 08000 430 430 to speak with us directly, or fill in our online enquiry form and we will call you back as soon as we can.