No clinician sets out to make a mistake during surgery, or delay or get a diagnosis wrong, but the effect on patients can be life-changing. And when negligence is proven the financial implications are significant.
During the last three financial years £54,102,242 has been paid out for clinical negligence claims against Swansea Bay University Health Board, excluding defence fees. A total of 146 clinical negligence claims were settled for the health board in those three years. The top two reasons for the claims were "diagnostic conclusions" and "invasive treatment/procedure". As of the beginning of April this year it had 323 outstanding clinical negligence claims.
The health board passes these types of claims to legal experts at an organisation called NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership to defend. Health boards in Wales pay the first £25,000 of a claim, with the remainder covered by a Wales-wide fund - the Welsh Risk Pool - which was established to reimburse losses to health boards. You can read more stories about Swansea here.
