NHS blows £2.2billion a year paying for its medical mistakes
More than £2.2 billion a year is being diverted from frontline NHS services to pay for clinical negligence claims, shocking new figures reveal.
Despite repeated Government pledges to tackle the scandal, spending has doubled from £1.1 billion in 2013.
The eye-watering figure enough to pay the salaries of 100,000 nurses means £1 in every £50 handed to the NHS is used to compensate harmed patients or settle lawyers’ legal fees.
In some cases, no win no fee law firms pocket more in legal fees than they secure in damages for their clients.
Spending on NHS claims in England soared from £1.7 billion in 2016/17 to £2.2 billion in 2017/18. Damages accounted for £1.1 billion and £1.6 billion respectively.
Payments to claimants’ lawyers shot up from £418 million in 2015/16...