Lincolnshire hospitals trust errors cost over £36m in two years

Errors by United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) have cost over £36 million in damage settlements and legal costs in the last two financial years.

The Lincolnite submitted a Freedom of Information request to the four hospital trusts in Greater Lincolnshire asking for the number of court and out-of-court settlements for the last two years.

The request revealed that there had been 231 claims by patients and their families to ULHT for the financial years of 2020/2021 and 2021/22.

The most common claims for both ULHT and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLaG) were for fail/delay treatment and failure/delay diagnosis, while all four claims for Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust were for clinical negligence.

This follows on from a similar FOI by The Lincolnite last year which found that more than £40 million in out-of-court settlements for damages and legal costs, was paid to patients and families between 2018 and 2020.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT)

The latest data provided by NHS Resolution showed that ULHT, which runs Lincoln County Hospital, Boston Pilgrim, Grantham and District Hospital, did not have any claim closed or settled in 2021 or up until the end of March this year that went to trial/court. However, a total of 231 claims were closed or settled out of court between the financial years of 2020/2021 and 2021/22 for over £19 million and more than £17.9 million respectively.

Number and cost of claims closed (or settled with a PPO – Periodical Payment Order) between financial years 2020/21-2021/22 with damages paid (or damages paid to date for PPOs) for United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust. | Photo: NHS Resolution

Of the 117 claims in the financial year 2020/21, the highest numbers were for fail/delay treatment (34), failure/delay diagnosis (31), Intra-Op problems (14), and Inadequate Nursing Care (5).

Where the figure is a small number a # symbol was used next to those categories, which included application of excess force, foreign body left in situ, and medication errors.

Of the 114 claims in the financial year 2021/22, the highest numbers were fail/delay treatment (30), failure/delay diagnosis (29), and Intra-Op problems (16).

Broken down by main cause, number and costs of claims closed (or settled with a PPO – Periodical Payment Order) between financial years 2020/21 – 2021/22 with damages paid (or damages paid to date for PPOs) for United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust. | Data: NHS Resolution

| Data: NHS Resolution

| Data: NHS Resolution

Paul Matthew, Director of Finance and Digital, said: “NHS Resolution settles litigation claims on behalf of all NHS Trusts, and any funds paid out in litigation cases are not paid by ULHT but are covered by the premium paid each year to NHS Resolution.

“While we are not able to comment on the specific detail of the claims referred to relating to this Freedom of Information request, we acknowledge that any failure to provide care to the high standards we expect can impact upon our patients and their loved ones. This is why we take every opportunity to listen to those experiencing our care and to learn from our mistakes, acting openly and honestly when those standards are not met.

“We also use the learning of others to improve the quality of our care, including implementing recommendations made from national reviews such as the report by Donna Ockenden for all Trusts providing maternity services.

“We remain committed to continual improvement in the care and support offered to everyone in our care.”

Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLaG)

In the calendar year 2021, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, which runs hospitals in Grimsby, Scunthorpe and Goole, closed 54 out of courts settlements with over £5 million paid out in damages, broken down as follows:

• Total damages £5,774,547.32
• Total claimants cost £2,203,700
• Total defence costs £432,080.78

The areas with the highest two claims for the trust for 2021 were failure/delay diagnosis (16) and fail/delay treatment (10), but there were also others including operator error (4), inappropriate treatment (3) and retained instrument post operation (1).

Between January and March 2022, 18 claims were settled – fail/delay treatment (10), failure/delay diagnosis (4), fail to warn – informed consent (1), inadequate nursing care (1), inappropriate discharge (1), and operator error (1).

The money paid out was as follows:

• Total damages £1,223,720.56
• Total claimant’s Cost £711,621.37
• Total defence costs £185,742.44

There were 0 claims settled in court.

Claims closed in the calendar year 2021. | Photo: NLaG

Claims closed in the calendar year 2022. | Photo: NLaG

Dr Kate Wood, Medical Director at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Every patient deserves to receive excellent medical care and treatment, but unfortunately in all healthcare settings there are times when things go wrong.

“When this happens in our trust, it is important for us that we do everything we can to put things right.

“Part of this process is settling damages to fairly reflect the consequences this has had on our patients and their families. However, this is only one part of a much bigger picture; as a Trust we are committed to learning from our mistakes.”

Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT)

When The Lincolnite first submitted the Freedom of Information request to Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which runs various sites in the county, it was told that the trust settled four clinical negligence claims during the requested period.

They were settled in April, May, August, and December (2021). The trust added that it has settled no personal injury claims during this period.

LPFT originally declined to give the data, however, after internal review was requested by The Lincolnite it was revealed that over £2.4 million in damages and legal costs was paid out for four clinical negligence claims.

| Photo: LPFT

Sarah Connery, Chief Executive of Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) said: “We have a duty of care to our patients to keep them safe. Sadly, on occasion for a number of reasons this regrettably falls below the standards we expect and can have a lifelong impact on someone’s health and income.

“As such, we ensure fair compensation for any losses. Fortunately, patients experiencing harm is rare, but in some cases requires significant compensation.

“Where incidents of harm, or near misses occur we work closely with service users, carers and their family to learn lessons and reduce the likelihood of incidents occurring in the future.”

Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS)

LCHS said fewer than five people were affected in each year and that it feared the data could lead to the identifications of individuals so refused to release the data.