The NHS could face an increase in medical negligence claims and costs without a robust and effective strategy from the government - Jonathan White

According to an annual report from NHS Resolution, the total cost of harm from clinical negligence was £13.6bn in the 2021-22 reporting year. And 60 per cent of the cost of harm was for maternity claims, amounting to £8.2bn for the year. Ultimately, maternity failures are behind the majority of big NHS payouts.

Given that NHS England spends £3bn annually on maternity and neonatal services, the cost of compensation is more than twice the price of care itself.

With ongoing pressures to the NHS such as a shortage of midwives, it’s an issue that requires urgent attention.

Part of the crisis in maternity care is being driven by a shortage of about 2,000 midwives in England. For the first time, more than half of the 139 maternity units run by the NHS are classed by the Care Quality Commission as “inadequate” or “requires improvement” when it comes to safety.

The persistent understaffing poses a risk to both staff and patient safety. There’s already a massive backlog the NHS is working through due to the disruption caused by Covid – now patients face waiting even longer for life saving treatment which in turn poses serious health complications and for the NHS, potential legal consequences.

Regionally, the issue is at large too. Maternity services at two hospitals in North Yorkshire have been rated as inadequate by a watchdog and according to NHS figures, hospital trusts in Hull paid out more than £34m in damages for maternity negligence in the last decade.

This comes off the back of high-profile inquiries last year, which found that failures in maternity care at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust and East Kent Hospitals led to the avoidable deaths of dozens of mothers and babies. The landmark report into maternity failings at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust found that almost 300 incidents of death or brain damage had occurred over two decades as a result of poor care.

The care provided by health professionals and the NHS is usually to an excellent standard and this issue isn’t a reflection on those health professionals and the institution itself but a clear sign that the NHS is overstretched, along with its workforce.

Therefore, it’s vital that the organisation is given support rather than blamed during this period.

Firstly, there needs to be a long-term strategy set out to plug the staffing holes within the NHS with a focus on retention and identifying why there’s been an exodus of staff during the pandemic, to now.

There needs to be support for staff members who are feeling burnout due to increased workloads and also, a provision of perks for employees.

By focusing on how we can attract and retain NHS staff members, we can work together to prevent accidents and consequent claims. Not only will this crucially ensure better care and patient safety but also save the NHS money by reducing medical negligence claims and costs.

Given the role of maternity services and its family-oriented service, there needs to be the right funding, support and provisions in place to ensure that family voices are at the heart of everything that is done.

There also needs to be a more robust approach to learning from past blunders and failures to help prevent future negligence claims. This is a two-fold approach, by supporting a strategy intent on avoiding negligence in the first place, the NHS will make financial savings and the care received by patients should improve.

However, when things go wrong. It’s only fair that people receive the compensation, care and support for what happened. People’s lives can change dramatically after experiencing medical negligence, both physically and mentally.

At National Accident Helpline, we surveyed people in Yorkshire and found that over half, 52 per cent, of respondents believe there is a stigma around making a personal injury claim and a quarter, 25 per cent, would feel uncomfortable making a claim against the NHS if they were a victim of a medical negligence accident.

There’s a clear discomfort with people taking claims against the NHS and this reinforces the great esteem the institution is held in. However, with concerns around upcoming NHS strikes, missed NHS targets and the wellbeing of the workforce, we face an increase in medical negligence claims and costs without a robust and effective strategy from the government.

Jonathan White is the legal and compliance director at National Accident Helpline.