21-05-2025
NHS pays out over £220k in compensation for medical negligence
Data has revealed how much a Sussex NHS Trust has paid out in compensation for clinical negligence claims.
In data obtained by Medical Negligence Assist, it was revealed that the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust settled a total of 10 claims since 2019, with damages amounting to £224,700 – not including NHS or claimant legal costs paid.
The trust, which runs the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Worthing Hospital, St Richard's and Princess Royal, is one of the largest NHS hospital trusts in England.
The data found a total of 19 claims and incidents of medical negligence pertaining to medication errors reported to NHS Resolution, the legal arm of the NHS.
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NHS Resolution is a government scheme paid for by the NHS Trust which acts as an insurance policy and pays for negligence claims.
Medication errors are described by the NHS as any Patient Safety Incidents (PSI) where there has been an error in the process of prescribing, dispensing, administering, monitoring or providing advice on medicines.
(Image: Medical Negligence Asisst) Errors can include failures to properly monitor patients on powerful drugs, poor communication between GPs and hospitals and giving the patients the wrong medication.
Research found that across England NHS Trusts have paid out a total of £54,054,916 in damages settling claims relating to medication errors since 2019, with NHS legal costs and claimant costs bringing the total to £89.6m.
Between April 2019 and March 2024, NHS Resolution received a total of 1,129 claims and incidents relating to errors in the medication process. Of those, 765 claims have been settled with damages amounting to £54m.
In the last five years, the most common reason for medication error claims was for unnecessary pain, with death as a result of medical negligence (relating to medication errors) as the second.
Professor Katie Urch, Chief Medical Officer at University Hospitals Sussex, said: "Our dedicated teams across all our seven hospitals care for thousands of patients every single day - and although cases of medication errors are rare, even one is one too many.
'Whilst the data presented in this report is of limited use on its own, as it does not reflect key context such as the size of Trust or clinical specialities. We are always committed to being open and improving.
'When patients do not receive the high standard of care we strive to provide, we are dedicated to learning from these instances and doing everything in our power to prevent them from happening again."
