EAST Lancashire Hospitals Trust has paid out £57million in negligence claims over the past five years, with some payments dating from decades ago.

Within that figure, £2.75m has gone towards historic claims - the latter figure the 17th highest for NHS trusts across England.

THE NHS in Lancashire has paid millions of pounds in negligence claims over the past five years, with some payments dating from decades ago.

Nationally, the Department of Health has paid out £152million, including legal fees, to victims of mistakes made before April 1995 in England.

The bill for all types of medical negligence claims, including damages and legal fees, has risen four-fold in 10 years to £1.6 billion in 2016-17, the National Audit Office has warned.

Since 2012, East Lancashire Hospitals Trust (ELHT) has paid out £57m, of which £2.75m has gone towards historic claims - the latter figure the 17th highest for NHS trusts across England.

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals has paid out £55.7m over the same period,of which £8,965.76 went to pre-1995 claims.

Lancashire Care Foundation Trust has paid out £4.2m, and contributed no money to historic claims.

Most high value claims in the NHS relate to maternity services, which are high value as they cover the cost of a child’s care for the rest of its life.

Russ McLean, East Lancashire’s patients’ champion described the figures as ‘staggering’ and called for an audit of complaints made, so that hospitals ‘learn from their mistakes and ultimately save money.’

He said: “The figure has really shocked me.

“If the NHS has done wrong, as a patient you should exercise that right to seek financial address.

“It staggers me as hospital trusts paying out millions certainly won’t help the current predicament.

“I would like to see an set-up audit of the complaints and issues that hospitals receive from patients so that they learn from their mistakes and ultimately save money.”

Former health boss Cllr Azhar Ali, the Labour leader on Lancashire County Council, said: “Obviously, there are going to be some historical liabilities for hospitals over things that have gone wrong, as sometimes that does happen.

“But this is still a staggering figure and I would like to see an audit of these complaints so mistakes can be reduced and minimised at all costs.”

Damian Riley, medical director for ELHT said that when mistakes are made, it is right that ‘patients are compensated adequately to enable them to secure future and social needs.’

He said: “Our aim is to provide a safe, personal and effective service to every person in our care and for the vast majority of the 700,000 people we treat, that is the case.

“Unfortunately, there are a very small number of occasions when things don’t go as expected or the standard of care provided falls below our aspirations.

“Here at ELHT, we place great importance on learning from mistakes, and we proactively share that learning with staff throughout the Trust.”

Lancashire Care said it is subject to ‘very few’ high value claims, with money paid out due to a ‘high volume’ of low value claims over a period of years for things like slips and trips or violent incidents.

A spokesman said: “Lancashire Care pays into three schemes: public liability, employers liability and clinical negligence which is when a patient is harmed from clinical care, ranging from the death of a patient known to our services to minor injury during dental work. “

Karen Partington, chief executive at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals said the legal costs related to ‘historical claims which can take some time to settle’.

She said: “Clinical errors are rare, and we have in place a range of systems and processes to ensure we provide the safest care possible, and that risk is minimised. We are open and transparent about any errors that occur, are committed to learning from mistakes and taking appropriate action to prevent recurrence.”

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “Our relentless drive to improve patient safety, including an ambition to halve the rates of neonatal deaths, stillbirths, maternal deaths and brain injuries caused during or shortly after labour by 2025, will help to reduce traumatic and costly safety failings in the NHS and ensure better protection for patients.

“We’re ensuring taxpayers’ money is spent effectively by taking action against law firms creaming off excessive legal costs that dwarf the damages recovered – but we’re also clear we want to ensure patients continue to access justice at a reasonable cost.”