The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee recently published its report into maternity services in England.
The report highlights that when NHS maternity care goes wrong, the impact can be devastating for those concerned and costly for the taxpayer, with around £480 million spent on clinical negligence cover – equivalent to £700 per birth.
The report reveals that maternity claims have risen by 80% over the last five years, leading the Committee to call on the Department of Health and NHS England to address the main causes of maternity clinical negligence claims so that fewer tragic mistakes occur.
This call has been echoed by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), which says that NHS maternity services must do more to avoid needless catastrophic injuries to babies and reduce the compensation bill.
“Needless errors during labour can lead to the most catastrophic of injuries which require round-the-clock care for victims for the rest of their lives,” explained APIL president Matthew Stockwell.
“Such life-shattering injuries are expensive. A baby who is severely brain damaged cannot so much as feed, clothe, or bathe itself and will not lead the life it could, and should, have enjoyed. Claims for this type of negligence run into the millions of pounds.
“I couldn’t agree more that the way to cut the cost of compensation claims is to cut off the problem at its source – the failure to uphold reasonable standards of care for women and their babies,” he added.
Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v1.0.
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