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NHS to foot huge compensation billDate: 02/10/2007 09:34:16
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NHS services are under fire again over the level of compensation the health service owes the victims of botched maternity care.
Last week confidential data from the NHS Litigation Authority emerged showing a huge bill to be settled for mistakes by midwives and maternity doctors, with cases against the health service reported to have fetched £4.5 billion in compensation.
Chief among claimants are the parents of children who have developed cerebral palsy from lack of oxygen at birth, with many left handicapped as a result of poor midwifery, while other cases of brain damage have raised a claims bill in excess of £700 million.
Some reports state the compensation tally to be even higher than £4.5 billion, with estimates for net liabilities claimed to be rising at £1 billion per year.
The figures have sparked claims for an investigation into why so many procedures are going wrong, while many have called for significant increases in the number of midwives to prevent the service being overstretched.
Professor Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, incoming president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, told the Observer: "The staffing numbers for consultants aren't adequate at 40 to 50 per cent of hospitals in the UK, though I'm sure that will apply to midwives too."
"The risk incidence must be greater at those hospitals," he added, echoing the feelings of the Royal College of Midwives, which is among those demanding an increase in midwife numbers.
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