By Anika Bourley Parliamentary Correspondent

Last updated at 11:58, Thursday, 20 November 2008

More than £4 million was paid out to patients across north and west Cumbria for clinical negligence last year – triple that of the previous 12 months, new figures have revealed.

Bradley Crawford

According to the Department of Health a staggering £4.36 million was paid out in compensation for patients treated at the North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital in 2007/8.

This compares to £1.08 million the previous year.

In addition, £79,947 was paid out to patients treated by the Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, the mental health trust, and £9,250 by Cumbria Primary Care Trust.

Figures released to parliament also reveal since 1998 a staggering £15.85 million has been paid out across the area, with North Cumbria Acute NHS Hospital Trust accounting for £15.7 million of the total. The payouts by the trust have varied in the nine-year period from a low of £39,000 in 1998/99 to its current peak.

One of the biggest negligence payouts in the county in recent years went to Bradley Crawford, a west Cumbrian boy whose birth left him with a catastrophic brain injury. The youngster, now eight, was awarded damages of £3.6 million after the team in charge of his birth at the West Cumberland Hospital failed to recognise he was starved of oxygen in the womb.

Bradley, of Crosscanonby, near Maryport, was left with cerebral palsy and all his limbs paralysed. Unable to speak or walk and will need professional care for life.

Managers admitted negligence and the payout was awarded to Bradley and parents Kelly Smith and Alan Crawford last year.

However, due to the way claims are handled by NHS Litigation Authority, not all compensation is awarded in lump sums. Some payments are staggered and most date back several years.

Carole Heatly, chief executive of the acute trust, said:“It would be incorrect to make year-on-year comparisons in relation to clinical negligence claims. Once a claim has been settled, there are a number of factors that will affect the size and timings of payments.

“These payments relate to historic settlements some of which can take several years to complete. Therefore, this does not reflect trends in terms of the number of clinical negligence claims to our trust.”

Steve Walker, chief executive of the NHS Litigation Authority, said of the national picture: “The number of people making claims has remained fairly static.

“The amount of money has gone up because judicial inflation is much higher than normal inflation. Figures can also be massively distorted by two or three very high-value claims. These are often settled many years after the event, and they even out over time. People talk about compensation culture but that does not exist in the NHS. We do not see fraudulent claims.”

He said most cash went towards the anticipated cost of wages for staff who would be needed to care for patients.

Nationally there was an increase of £13 million in payouts in the last 12 months up from £345 million in 2006/7 to £358 million last year.

A spokesman for the Department for Health added: “The NHS sees a million people every 36 hours. The vast majority receive safe care.”

But opposition parties last night said more emphasis had to be put on safety.

Liberal Democrat shadow health spokesman Norman Lamb said: “These payouts are taking money away from patient care. There must be a focus on establishing systems that keep patients safe and prevent negligence happening in the first place.”

First published at 11:23, Thursday, 20 November 2008
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk