Hospitals in region pay out £30m compensation in a year
Almost?£30 million in compensation was paid out by hospitals in the Black Country and Staffordshire last year, figures have revealed.
Out of that figure, more than £8.5m came from the trust that runs Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital – the highest in the West Midlands over the last financial year.
Big payouts also came from Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, which forked out nearly £6.6m, while Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust paid almost £6.4m. The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust handed out £8,510,851 in 2012/13 – of which £8,181,907 was for negligence claims. The remainder was spent on non-clinical claims.
The total figure was up by 22 per cent from £6,967,223 the previous year.
Bosses today said the rise was because more historic cases had been settled, coupled with a consistent trend across the UK.
Chief executive Paula Clark said: "We take all claims received against the trust very seriously and thoroughly investigate these in conjunction with the NHS Litigation Authority Clinical
Negligence Scheme for Trusts, which covers all of our claims, to ensure lessons are learned.
"The amount of compensation paid out on behalf of the trust in 2012/13 included settlement of some claims raised in previous years as far back as 1996. The figure has risen because the
NHSLA has settled more cases on our behalf relating to claims going back a number of years."
Troubled Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust paid the lowest amount in compensation during the year to April 2013.
The trust, which runs Stafford Hospital, paid £3,540,347 in 2012/13, of which £3,407,540 was for negligence claims. The second-lowest spend was at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, which runs New Cross Hospital. It spent £4,879,232 in 2012/13 – up from £4,348,390 in 2011/12 – and £4,308,480 was for negligence claims.
Meanwhile, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs Manor Hospital, paid out £6,569,889, of which £6,489,946 was for negligence claims. The total figure was down significantly on 2011/12 levels, when payouts topped £13m. Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Sandwell General Hospital and City Hospital, paid £6,357,842 during the 12 months to April 2013, £5,813,819 of which was for negligence claims.
