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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Denis Campbell Health policy editor

NHS medical negligence liabilities hit £60bn amid surge in maternity payouts

A nurse puts a comforting hand on the shoulder of a mother as she cradles her newborn baby
The steep rise in liabilities for medical negligence is partly down to a jump in costs relating to childbirth injury Photograph: By Ian Miles-Flashpoint Pictures/Alamy

The NHS’s total liabilities for medical negligence have hit £60bn, driven by a jump in childbirth injury cases that cost more than £11m each on average to settle.

The total sum of money the health service in England may have to pay out to settle lawsuits for mistakes by staff has quadrupled from £14.4bn in 2006-07, amid more claims and rising legal costs.

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