University health board multi-million pound payouts

Posted: August 15, 2015

Posted in: Medical Negligence 

A Freedom of Information request has revealed that a University Health Board in Wales has paid out over £9million in personal injury negligence claims. It was found that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board made a number of “serious” mistakes that led to large compensation packages being awarded to claimants in the last year. Errors included a swab being left inside a patient after surgery and a procedure being carried out on a patient’s wrong body part.

Details of the individual payouts were released by the director of corporate services, Chris Wright, showing that a total of 310 claims were made against the health board in 2014-15. These figures show an increase of 25 claims on the previous year, with £711,358 paid out in defending claims.

“significant actions”

The report revealed that there were a total of five recorded ‘never-events’ in North Wales in 2014-15. ‘Never events’ are incidents that should not have happened and could easily have been prevented. One involved a suicide case whereby a rail designed to collapse when weight was applied failed.

In the report Mr Wright says: “Significant actions have been taken over the past 12 months and a detailed action plan for addressing emerging issues is in place.” He added that all ‘never events’ are thoroughly investigated and analysed “to ensure that these major safety incidents are never repeated”.

If you have been affected by a medical negligence injury, and are looking to claim compensation, please contact us. 

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