MISTAKES and legal blunders cost the county’s hospital authority £13.9m in compensation and legal fees last year, new figures show.

The Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust figures for 2013/14 included £841,047 in defence costs.

The trust said some large payments are to cover lifelong care needs and can be paid in stages, such as for children brain damaged at birth. It paid out a record total of £24.4m in 2012/13, but costs can change between years because of single large pay outs.

A total of £127.6m has been paid out since 2003/04, when figures were first published by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA).

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Last year’s total payout was the 13th highest out of 247 NHS trusts across the country, though smaller trusts with fewer high risk services are expected to pay out less.

There were more claims made in the last year, 89 compared to 84 in 2012/13, though most claims are not settled in the year they were submitted.

Trust director of finance and procurement Mark Mansfield said: “Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust consists of four hospitals and is one of the biggest NHS trusts in the country. The trust is commissioned as a specialist regional centre for many aspects of complex treatment and care.

“Providing excellent safe care for our patients is our top priority and for the overwhelming majority of the one million patients we see every year at our four hospitals we achieve this.”

He said: “There has been an increase in the total sum of pay outs by the NHSLA across the whole NHS over the last 10 years, as there has been with the trust.

“This is not a reflection of the quality or safety of our services.”


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