Maternity Services: Expenditure and Negligence
(asked on 12th December 2023) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the NHS spent on provision of maternity services in each of the last five years for which information is available; and how much was claimed for clinical negligence in maternity services in each such year.
Answered by
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is not possible for the department to quantify the total amount the National Health Service spent on the provision of maternity services in each of the last five years, as some aspects of those costs extend beyond maternity and neonatal care, such as capital spending and some elements of workforce.
NHS Resolution manages clinical negligence and other claims against the NHS in England. The following tables shows the costs that NHS Resolution has advised of Clinical Negligence Claims Closed or Settled as a Periodical Payment Order (PPO) between 2018/19 and 2022/23 with damages paid where the Specialty is 'Obstetrics':
Year of Closure (Settlement Year for PPOs) | Damages Paid | NHS Legal Costs Paid | Claimant Legal Costs Paid | Total Paid |
2018/19 | £605,688,009 | £25,560,735 | £78,394,471 | £709,643,216 |
2019/20 | £495,458,879 | £22,536,708 | £72,295,468 | £590,291,055 |
2020/21 | £501,965,729 | £22,080,962 | £68,796,850 | £592,843,541 |
2021/22 | £503,741,949 | £21,897,291 | £78,114,994 | £603,754,235 |
2022/23 | £596,598,917 | £25,039,074 | £84,939,593 | £706,577,584 |
Source: NHS Resolution
Notes:
- The data includes the damages and legal costs paid up until the end of each relevant financial year of closure, or for PPO matters, year of settlement.
- Periodical Payment Orders (PPOs) are an agreement between the parties, to pay an initial lump sum and regular future payments (PPO damages) related to the injured party’s ongoing needs, usually care for life i.e. a percentage of the full value of the claim is paid at the point of settlement with the balance paid at regular intervals over subsequent years.