Damages paid out to patients following mistakes at a Black Country hospital have soared to more than £2 million, it was revealed today.

Figures obtained by the Express & Star show compensation payments rocketed from £863,000 in 2008/09 to £2,046,321 in 2009/10 at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital.

The payouts – enough to cover the salaries of about 94 staff nurses – follow court rulings and out-of-court settlements to legal claims made by hospital patients.

They relate to claims of failed diagnoses and deficiencies in standards of care.

But David Loughton, chief executive of the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust, today stressed the hospital’s duty to compensate wronged patients.

“It is always concerning when patients make a claim because something has clearly happened that shouldn’t have,” he said.

“It is also absolutely right that individuals receive the appropriate compensation and we always try to make this process as smooth as possible.”

Recent compensation cases include Perton schoolboy Liam Homfray, who was paid £75,000 after being left with permanent injuries after a difficult birth.

He suffers from Erbs Palsy, a condition that affects the nerves in the shoulder and is most commonly caused as a result of damage during birth.

It was claimed his mother Donna was not placed in the correct delivery position by midwives at New Cross.

More than £931,000 of the £2,046,321 compensation total went straight to claimaints’ solicitors.

The figure follows Prime Minister David Cameron’s pledge that his government will stunt the promotional activities of “no win no fee” claims management companies in a bid to curtail spiralling compensation culture.

It was revealed last month that £10.6 million has been paid out in public liability claims by councils in the Black Country and Staffordshire in the last two years – with almost £6.1 million of taxpayers’ money banked by claimaints’ solicitors.