NHS pays out £85 million in compensation claims

Each year the NHS pays out £41 million in compensation claims as a result of cases of poor maternity care.

This covered cases such when youngsters have been left with developmental delay, brain damage or cerebral palsy, the London Evening Standard reported.

It was also discovered that in a year the number of legal actions families launched over poor care or deaths in maternity wards rose by as much as a quarter in the capital.

For London, the total NHS compensation bill reached £85 million for the year ending April 2010.

"NHS leaders need to acknowledge these complaints, take them seriously and work to improve these failings," Katherine Murphy, of the Patients Association campaign group, said.

The newspaper found that in 2009/10 almost 300 legal cases were brought against maternity units at more than two-thirds of the capital's NHS trusts.

Last month, Nicola Ricket was awarded compensation for her son Alexander after Kingston Hospital made mistakes at his birth.

Published by Hannah Carr