A NORTH Wales health board has paid out clinical negligence claims amounting to £22,847,718 last year.
It also paid £295,539 in “financial redress” claims to patients, with £42,300 of offers still waiting to be accepted.
The figures are contained in a Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board [BCUHB] report due to be discussed on Wednesday, September 23.
It also stated that, although not the highest number, birth injury claims accounted for the board’s largest settlement amounts.
BCUHB is the largest health organisation in Wales responsible for planning and providing NHS services across the six principal areas of North Wales.
The health board has a duty to consider its legal responsibility if there has been allegations of harm made within a complaint, or a patient safety incident has resulted in moderate harm, severe harm or a death.
A qualifying liability is established if the health board has both failed in its duty of care to a patient, and if the breach of duty has caused the harm that the patient has suffered.
“Redress” for the incident can include anything from a full explanation of what happened, an apology; an offer to provide care or treatment (where appropriate), a report on action which has been, or will be, taken to prevent similar cases arising; and/or financial compensation.
During 2024-25 BCUHB made 40 offers of financial redress which were accepted, which totalled £295,539. Seven other offers were made but are still waiting to be accepted, totalling £42,300.
The board has also seen 11 redress apologies (without financial redress) issued, nine cases were removed from redress to continue as clinical negligence claims, one case was concluded, denying liability following an expert report being obtained, and 15 independent clinical experts were instructed as part of the redress process.
The report explains if investigations are unable to come to a conclusion internally, independent clinical experts are instructed.
They work jointly with the complainant or their representative to provide a report on the extent of the harm and/or the patient’s condition and prognosis, as a result of the breach of duty.
The expert reports are then used to determine “an appropriate offer of redress”.
The report noted that each matter settled as a redress case instead of a clinical negligence claim saves the health board “a significant amount in legal costs as well as providing patients with a quicker resolution”.
The report stated that this year there had been 313 clinical negligence claims and 45 personal injury claims.
The total amount paid out during 2024/25 for clinical negligence amounted to £22,847,718 and for personal injury, the sum was £259,907.
This included damages, claimant’s costs and defence costs for all claims.
Throughout 2024-25, the health board report also says some “trends” are noted within the claims.
These included claims brought in relation to alleged failed “treatment/procedures” whilst failures in relation to “assessment/investigation/diagnosis” continues to be the highest category types received for clinical negligence claims.
For personal injury claims, the trend continued to be slips and trips and violence/aggression manual handling matters.
The most frequently occurring specialties seen in clinical negligence cases continues to be emergency departments, obstetrics, gynaecology, surgery and trauma & orthopaedics.
The report stated: “The number of matters occurring in the emergency department has increased, which is likely to be associated with the pressures seen in unscheduled care settings.
“Although not the highest in number, birth injury claims account for the largest settlement amounts paid for clinical negligence claims.”
The report also noted: “There has not been an increase in claims which are directly related to Covid 19, although action through ‘test cases’ by some staff and patient groups across the UK continue to be explored.”
Pam Wenger, director of corporate governance at BCUHB, said: “We recognise that behind every case of clinical negligence or redress is a patient and their family who have experienced harm or distress, and we extend our sincere apologies to those affected.
“As the largest health organisation in Wales, we provide care to over 700,000 people across North Wales every year. While the vast majority of patients receive safe and effective care, we accept that there are occasions when things go wrong.
“In these situations, we have a legal and moral duty to be open and transparent, to investigate what happened, to apologise, and where appropriate, to provide financial compensation.
“We continue to work hard to reduce the number of incidents that result in harm by learning from every case, strengthening our governance and patient safety processes, and putting robust improvement plans in place to ensure the best possible care for the people of North Wales.”
