Ministers slammed over ‘jaw-dropping' NHS negligence claims for poor care
Compensation for clinical negligence claims cost £2.8bn in 2023-24 – up from £2.6bn the year before – with hundreds of millions paid out in legal fees.
The highest number of claims were for failings in emergency medicine, obstetrics, orthopaedic and general surgery, with maternity care payouts costing the most, totalling £1.1bn last year.
The Department of Health and Social Care has set aside an 'astounding' £58.2bn to cover the potential costs of clinical negligence events occurring before April 2024.
The public accounts committee sounded the alarm on the rise, saying ministers needed to get a grip on NHS finances.
Its chair, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, said: 'The fact that the government has set aside tens of billions of pounds for clinical negligence payments, its second most costly liability after some of the world's most complex nuclear decommissioning projects, should give our entire society pause.
'It must be a priority of the highest order for the government to reduce tragic incidences of patient harm and lay out a mechanism to reduce legal fees to manage the jaw-dropping costs involved more effectively.'
The most recent NHS data shows 4,076 incidents of severe harm to patients and 4,449 patient deaths were recorded by the NHS in just three months from October to December last year.
And a fifth of last year's record £2.8bn compensation bill – £545m – went to lawyers. That amount is higher than the entire expenditure of the government's legal department, the report found, which totalled £341m in the same year.
In the past five years alone, NHS Resolution, which manages negligence claims, has spent over £12bn on payouts – £2.4bn of which has been spent on claimants' legal fees.
'If we can reduce the leakage of lawyers' fees in the middle, that benefits the whole of the NHS, because there will be more money available for other services,' said Sir Geoffrey,
Hospital chiefs in England warned last week that they have been forced to cut nurse and doctor posts and scale back emergency and maternity care to meet the government 's 'eye watering' savings demands for 2025-26.
The committee challenged the DHSC to set out how it intends to 'reduce tragic incidents of patient harm' and manage the costs of negligence 'more effectively'.
Acknowledging the high cost of payouts for maternity care failings, Sir Geoffrey said the difference between some maternity units and others 'is quite significant'.
He said: 'Obstetrics is an inherently dangerous process, so the line between doing harm and negligence is quite narrow, but the NHS need to look carefully at why some units do get more negligence claims than others.'
MPs on the committee also criticised the DHSC, which they said 'lacks a grip of the financial pressures it faces'.
MPs also raised concerns over the 'uncertainty' surrounding the abolition of NHS England, announced in March, which they said had created 'high levels of uncertainty for patients and for staff'.
They said the DHSC had a 'lack of firm plans' for its closure and reducing its headcount by 50 per cent.
'At the moment, it looks a little bit like shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic. We really want to make sure that this thing is going to work properly,' Sir Geoffrey told The Independent.
'It has been two months since the government's decision to remove what up until now has been seen as a key piece of machinery without articulating a clear plan for what comes next, and the future for patients and staff remains hazy,' he said.
MPs highlighted how some hospitals in England had pushed through unauthorised special exit packages – severance payments which require Treasury sign-off because they are new or contentious, totalling more than £180,000 in 2023/24.
'There remain far too many special severance payments where approval has only been sought after the payment has been made,' they added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
31 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Mounjaro prices double as weight loss jab popularity soars
A Lilly spokesperson said: 'Following a review, Lilly will increase the UK list price for Mounjaro (tirzepatide) from 1 September to address pricing inconsistencies compared to other developed countries, including in Europe. We have reached an agreement with the NHS to ensure continued supply and patient access." The statement continues: 'While Lilly does not determine the prices that private healthcare providers set, we are working with them to maintain patient access. The UK was one of the first countries where Lilly launched Mounjaro, and our priority was to bring it to patients as quickly as possible during a time of limited supply of GLP-1 RA treatments for type 2 diabetes. 'At launch, Lilly agreed to a UK list price that is significantly below the European average to prevent delays in NHS availability." More than 1.5 million people in the UK are believed to be using weight-loss medication each month, with most buying the jabs from private pharmacies. Mounjaro users report surprising side effect - pharmacists share their tips — Bucks Free Press (@bucksfreepress) August 8, 2025 This comes as the Government has joined forces with Eli Lilly in a bid to tackle obesity. The move could see patients accessing care at pharmacies or by using online platforms. The £85 million programme from Eli Lilly and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has been designed to look at how obese patients can access weight management care more easily. This includes through community services, in pharmacies and online. Using these tools, eligible patients could be treated 'in a matter of months', according to Health Secretary Wes Streeting. Under the agreement, the Government will contribute up to £50 million in UK-wide investment. Meanwhile, Eli Lilly will back the programme with £35 million, and NHS organisations will be able to apply for a share of the funding. Recommended reading: Mounjaro warning as pens ruined by heatwave temperatures This comes as users are risking having to throw away perfectly good Mounjaro pens as they have overheated in the recent heatwave. Improper storage of Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro during a heatwave could destroy the active ingredient in these jabs, potentially wiping out their effects entirely, even if the medication looks completely normal. 'We recommend treating your weight-loss pen the same way you'd treat insulin or any critical medication,' says Danielle Brightman, Clinical Director at Numan. 'When in doubt, don't risk it. Speak to a healthcare professional and arrange a replacement.' 8 tips to protect Mounjaro and other weight-loss injections during hot weather Use a medical-grade cool bag. Transport your pen in a proper, insulated container designed for sensitive medications. Don't use improvised ice packs that might freeze the pen by accident. Never leave your pen in hot places. Even 10 minutes in a parked car or on a sunny kitchen counter could expose it to damaging heat if out of its delivery packaging or unrefrigerated. Always check the environment before setting it down. Store below 30°C once in use. Once opened and if not refrigerated, keep your pen in a shaded, ventilated area, away from heat sources, windows, and radiators. If you live in a flat or home without air conditioning, keep the pen in a bedroom or hallway that doesn't heat up from direct sun. Avoid storing near exterior walls if the property retains heat. Follow the usage timeline carefully. The storage instructions between medications. Wegovy after first use can last 6 weeks below 30 degrees then needs to be disposed of, whereas Mounjaro has a shorter time of 30 days below 30 degrees before needing to be disposed of. Stick to that timeframe, and if you're unsure whether it's still safe, consult your provider. Use a fridge thermometer at home. Fridge temperatures can fluctuate, especially in older models or over-packed shelves. A simple digital fridge thermometer can help ensure your pen is always stored between 2–8°C before first use. Planning to travel? Use airline-friendly cooling cases. If you're flying or taking long journeys, consider TSA-approved insulated medication pouches with cooling gel packs. Always store the pen in carry-on luggage, not checked baggage, as cargo holds can get hot or cold. Set storage reminders on your phone. If you're prone to forgetting where you left your pen, set daily reminders to check if it's stored properly, especially during heatwaves or while travelling. Don't store near appliances or steam sources. Keep pens away from kettles, toasters, ovens, dishwashers, and anywhere that might experience sudden heat or humidity, especially in small kitchens or shared spaces. Injections like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro are now widely used across the UK for appetite control and sustainable weight management. But despite their growing popularity and increasing availability now through the NHS, most patients don't realise the strict temperature guidelines that must be followed to keep these drugs effective. 'We speak to patients every day who are using GLP-1s for the first time,' says Danielle. 'With temperatures set to soar again this summer, it's crucial we raise awareness about safe medication storage. Heat damage isn't always obvious, but it can have a huge impact on effectiveness and safety."
The Independent
31 minutes ago
- The Independent
Teenager who fatally self-harmed at scandal-hit mental health hospital was unlawfully killed
A teenager who fatally self-harmed at a scandal-hit mental health hospital was unlawfully killed, an inquest jury has ruled. Ruth Szymankiewicz, 14, died on 14 February 2022 after she was left alone at Huntercombe Hospital, also called Taplow Manor, near Maidenhead in Berkshire, despite requiring constant one-to-one observation, Buckinghamshire Coroner's Court was told. Ruth, who had an eating disorder, Tourette syndrome and a tic condition, which had affected her mental health, was left alone for 15 minutes on 12 February, allowing her to make her way to her room, where she self-harmed. She was found and resuscitated before being transferred to John Radcliffe Hospital, but died two days later. During her inquest, it was revealed that the ward she was on was 'severely short-staffed' and missing 'at least half' their workers on the day she self-harmed. In a note written by the teenager before her death, read aloud in court, Ruth criticised the lack of therapy available for patients at the hospital, which she said had an 'unsafe number of staff' and 'should be shut down'. Huntercombe Hospital, Maidenhead, called Taplow Manor, was closed in 2023 following investigations by The Independent revealed accusations of systemic abuse of patients. It was also revealed in court that the care worker responsible for monitoring Ruth had only gone through a day or a day and a half of online training before his first shift at the children 's psychiatric hospital on 12 February 2022. The worker who left her had been working under a fake identity, and police were not able to question him following her death as he fled the country. In a tragic note written by Ruth before her death, read out at the inquest, revealed she had said hospital staff would fall asleep on shift, that there was no access to therapy and that the hospital 'should be shut down'. She said: 'Huntercombe , it doesn't deserve a capital H... It is the shittest mental health institution you could get.. the non-existent therapy, the unsafe number of staff, how the place makes you worse, and the staff literally sleep on their shifts. 'I don't want this to happen to any other patients ever. My suggestion is to shut this place down.' During the inquest, a senior NHS doctor working for the Thames Provider Collaborative, which was responsible for Ruth's admission, admitted that the NHS did not do enough for a 14-year-old who died under the care of a private hospital. Dr Gillian Combes said the NHS was aware the hospital was understaffed daily, that there were concerns over its care, but there were no other choices available that were clinically appropriate for Ruth. Dr Combe, has also warned that children's mental health units across the country are struggling to staff their wards every day and that the NHS does not have the money to build its own wards. Staff working on the unit on the day of her death revealed it was 'severely short-staffed' on the day she self-harmed and was missing around half of the workers it needed that day. A senior nurse and a senior support worker, Michelle Hansey, both revealed that they had raised concerns over short staffing at the hospital to managers before Ruth's death. Ms Hancy told jurors that, on the morning of February 12, she had become 'upset and emotional' because of the insufficient staffing on the Thames ward. 'I have raised (staffing issues) several times before this event,' Ms Hancey said, adding that a lot of staff had fallen sick during that period because of exhaustion. It was also alleged at the inquest that on occasions when the wards were short-staffed staffed Huntercombe managers would look for patients whose observations could be reduced. In 2023, a joint investigation by The Independent and Sky News into a group of hospitals owned by The Huntercombe Group and then taken over by Active Care Group, revealed allegations from children who were at the hospital and their families that they were 'treated like animals' and left traumatised as part of a decade of 'systemic abuse'. Allegations included that patients were subjected to the 'painful' use of restraints and were held down for hours by male nurses. Some were stopped from going outside for months, were living in wards with blood-stained walls, were force-fed and given so much medication that they had become 'zombies'. In 2017, another young girl died at a hospital owned by the Huntercombe Group. Mia Titheridge, 17, who was supposed to be subject to 15-minute observations, took her own life when a nurse failed to check on her for almost an hour, an inquest found. Following The Independent 's reports, the Care Quality Commission stopped new admissions to Taplow Manor, and Active Care Group, which took over its running, later decided to close the hospital.
BBC News
32 minutes ago
- BBC News
Welsh teenager researching medical cannabis to study at Oxford
A teenager who has secured a spot at the University of Oxford says the way cannabis has helped her mother's condition "opened my eyes to its medical potential".Ariana Howells, 17, from Barry in Wales, who achieved three A*s and one A in A-level biology, chemistry, maths, and English literature, plus 97% in her Extended Project Qualification, will now take her place at St Hilda College to study interest in medical cannabis has highlighted the drug's promise, as well as gaps in existing said that despite "stigma and strong media opinions", science was about "being open to where the evidence leads". Ariana, who is a scholarship student at Cardiff Sixth Form College, examined the extent THC, a component of cannabis, can "negatively affect sleep architecture" as part of her studies."There were only seven studies worth citing," Ariana said."I expected clearer answers, but what I found was a real need for more in-depth, unbiased research. "This is something I want to keep exploring at university and beyond."Her mother lives with Crohn's disease, an incurable chronic inflammatory bowel believes medical cannabis has played a crucial role in improving her quality of parents run Cannabis Clinic Cardiff where the teenager has spent the last two years helping with admin and learning about the evolving science behind the plant-based treatment."Seeing my mum's condition and the way cannabis helped her and the patients who visit our clinic really opened my eyes to its medical potential," she said."My dad is also a senior psychiatrist, so I've grown up in a household where science and care come together."Outside of school, she has earned gold in the Biology Olympiad and is a competitive ice preparation for Oxford, Ariana plans to channel her energy into drug development and mental health research, and she is especially interested how medical cannabis could one day transform care."There's still stigma and strong media opinions," she said."But science is about asking difficult questions and being open to where the evidence leads." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
