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Maternity Care Medical Negligence

Poor maternity care costing the NHS millions in medical negligence payouts

At a time when the NHS is expected to make significant cuts, it has been revealed that compensation payouts for medical negligence cases are costing the health service many millions of pounds. Many of these claims are due to poor quality and negligent maternity care. The number of such claims brought against the NHS has increased by a quarter in just a single year.

According to the London Evening Standard, poor maternity care cost the NHS £41 million in compensation payouts in London alone. This accounts for almost half of all the compensation paid out by the health service in London. The newspaper found that there were roughly 300 legal cases made against maternity units in London in 2009/10.

Clearly this situation is detrimental to the NHS, which is already hard-pressed financially, but it is also a sign that something needs to change in the nation’s maternity wards. Until it does, there will be a continuing need for the health service to pay out large sums of money to compensate families who have had the birth of their child blighted by low standards of care.

When can poor maternity care lead to a medical negligence claim?

Medical negligence claims may be brought against the NHS and other health care providers for a number of reasons. In the most extreme cases, either the mother or her child may die as a result of the negligent actions of medical staff. An independent report commissioned by the NHS in London found that over an 18 month period, 17 women died as a result of improper maternity care.

In other cases, the child may suffer from a birth injury. Brain damage resulting in cerebral palsy is an all too common reason for birth injury claims. It is a condition that can be caused by infections, the brain being starved of oxygen and other complications during the birth.

A medical negligence claim might also arise as a result of poor standards of treatment and care which have led to significant distress or traumatisation for mother and child.

Why are there so many maternity medical negligence claims?

Some people might blame the high number of claims for further impoverishing the financial health of the NHS. However, it’s important to remember that in cases where individuals and newborn infants have suffered injury or loss as a result of negligence, they are entitled to compensation for the negative affects upon their lives. It is also essential to highlight failings in the system so that other mothers and their children do not experience the same trauma in the future.

The increasing number of claims is perhaps a sign that the NHS is currently struggling with the high number of birth rates in the UK, or that cuts in services have reduced their effectiveness. The BBC’s Panorama programme recently found that across the country in 2010, maternity units were temporarily closed to new admissions on over a thousand separate occasions. As a result, approximately 900 women had to be transferred to alternative units. The closures were generally due to understaffing and overcrowding.

While it is to be hoped that in the future the number of these types of mateclaims medical negligence claims will be significantly reduced, in the meantime compensation claims can help affected families to get their lives back on track.

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