£250k compensation paid out
Nearly £250,000 in compensation has been paid out to ambulance staff and patients through scores of successful claims in recent years, new figures have revealed. Nearly £250,000 in compensation has been paid out to ambulance staff and patients through scores of successful claims in recent years, new figures have revealed. The West Midlands Ambulance Service Trust has coughed up £141,000 to cover the cost of claims since 2005. A further £100,000 was met by the National Heath Service Litigation Authority (NHSLA). The figures, which relate to 46 cases, were released to the Express & Star under the Freedom of Information Act, and cover damages paid as well as the amounts the service has had to fork out to cover court costs. Read the full story in the Express & Star.
The West Midlands Ambulance Service Trust has coughed up £141,000 to cover the cost of claims since 2005.
A further £100,000 was met by the National Heath Service Litigation Authority (NHSLA).
The figures, which relate to 46 cases, were released to the Express & Star under the Freedom of Information Act, and cover damages paid as well as the amounts the service has had to fork out to cover court costs.
The information covers when the trust was formally known as the West Midlands Ambulance Service until last year, but bosses have not revealed where in the region the claims originated from.
Murray McGregor, spokesman for the West Midlands Ambulance Service Trust, said today: "Any figure is clearly too high and the trust works hard to make sure staff and patients are looked after and cared for in the most appropriate way.
"Clearly staff and patient safety is one of the most important things and we work very hard to make sure everyone is as safe as possible."
The biggest compensation payout was in the 2006/2007 financial year when a claim cost the NHSLA and the trust a total of £61,864.
Just over £45,000 of that was in damages while defence and claimant costs totalled more than £16,000. The NHSLA paid nearly £52,000 leaving the trust with £10,000 to pay.
The NHSLA is a special health authority which is part of the NHS and is responsible for handling negligence claims made against NHS bodies in England.
In 2005/2006 5,697 claims of clinical negligence and 3,497 claims of non clinical negligence against NHS bodies were received by it.
More than £500 million was paid out in connection with clinical negligence claims and £31million in connection with non clinical negligence. The West Midlands Ambulance Service Trust figures relate to one claim made in 2005/2006 as well as 2006/2007 and 2007/2008.
Meanwhile a controversial move to merge West Midlands and Staffordshire ambulance services will go ahead in October.
Staffordshire Ambulance Service's trust board has agreed to become part of the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust from October 1.
It was initially feared lives would be lost in Staffordshire as the county's ambulance services performed much better than their partners in the West Midlands.
But over the past year response times in the West Midlands significantly improved while performance in Staffordshire is statistically slightly lower.
