THE NHS paid out a record high £123million to families of patients who died after blunders by doctors and nurses last year.
The staggering nine-figure “kill bill”, obtained by The Sun using FoI laws, shows it has coughed up to 1,279 families following a slew of serious medical negligence failures.
Victims of NHS blunders include children, women in labour and sick Brits attacked by another patient inside hospitals.
It includes hundreds of cases where delays in diagnosing medical conditions directly led to a patient’s death.
Each family was paid an average settlement of £96,000, though some cases pursued through mediation body NHS Resolution can be ended with no financial payout.
The number of cases settled has hit an all-time high and payouts soared by £30million in only two years.
Our stats show that £30million alone was forked over to families after NHS Trusts delayed the treatment of medical conditions until patients were terminally sick.
In other cases doctors or specialists missed the health problems, including cancers, altogether.
Some 106 cases were settled after patients died following “inadequate nursing care”, with £2.6million paid in damages.
Another 48 deaths followed fatal medication errors, while 44 people died after GPs forgot to refer them to hospital consultants, costing £7.6million in damages.
Other payouts included 14 fatal failures to monitor women in labour, six cases of bacterial infections and 10 patients who died when doctors gave them the entirely wrong diagnosis.
The true cost to the taxpayer was even higher as the figures do not include both sides’ legal bills, which, for winning claims, are paid in full by the NHS using taxpayer cash.
Medical solicitor John McQuater told The Sun on Sunday: “A payout from the NHS means care fell below the standard that anyone is entitled to expect, which has caused an immeasurable loss.
“It shows how important medical standards are. If doctors and nurses don’t take proper care of patients, it leads to dangerous consequences and someone has to be held to account.
“Even in cases where the smallest error has led to serious injury or death, while people make mistakes, these figures show people in great positions of responsibility must take great care.
“We’d expect the same of a plane pilot, or a train driver, and that standard or a higher one must apply to medics too.”
The NHS was asked to comment.
