Over half a billion pounds has been paid out by Scotland’s NHS to victims of medical blunders, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The eye-watering compensation handouts have been given to patients who have suffered from botched operations and poor care in hospitals and clinics.
Last night critics blamed the shocking damages payouts on the SNP’s ‘years of NHS mismanagement which has created a workforce which is overworked and under-supported.’
The payouts relate to thousands of claims for clinical negligence.
But almost £100million was paid to to victims of ‘birth injury’ with twelve of Scotland’s 14 health boards paying compensation to people injured by maternity and obstetric negligence.
This included incidents such as babies developing cerebral palsy or mothers even losing their lives during childbirth.
Over half a billion pounds has been paid out by Scotland’s NHS to victims of medical blunders
The details have emerged as health bosses are bracing themselves for potential claims from patients harmed by brain surgeon Professor Eljamel
Campaigners have also suggested the figure could rise significantly after a time-bar that had blocked patients harmed by shamed brain surgeon Sam Eljamel from bringing cases forward was removed.
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘The number of compensation schemes made against NHS Scotland in the last 10 years is staggering.
‘This situation is due to year after year of SNP mismanagement, creating a workforce which is overworked and under-supported.
‘Taxpayers have had to pay over half a billion pounds due to SNP ministers not taking care of our national health service.
‘Patients across Scotland are not receiving the same level of care that they were ten years ago, because doctors and nurses are simply being asked to do too much.
‘It is clear that we are seeing significant increases in litigation against the NHS when things have gone wrong at the same time as we see a record number of public inquiries into failings in the NHS, which has seen patients lose their lives and record numbers of avoidable deaths.’
The details have emerged as health bosses are bracing themselves for potential claims from patients harmed by brain surgeon Professor Eljamel.
More than 200 patients claim they suffered harm at the hands of the shamed medic.
Among them is campaigner Jules Rose who suffered a botched surgery in 2013 when Prof Eljamel removed her tear duct instead of a brain tumour. He returned to his home country of Libya in 2017 where he has continued to practise as a surgeon.
The under-fire medic is feared to have botched numerous operations over two decades, leaving some of those he treated at NHS Tayside with life-changing injuries.
Four years ago professor Eljamel was ordered to pay £2.8million in compensation to one woman after leaving her with serious disabilities during his time working at Ninewell’s Hospital in Dundee.
In February, NHS Tayside removed a hurdle for Eljamel’s patients who were treated on the NHS to sue the health board after resetting a time bar for legal claims.
The move came after a long campaign that argued the three-year legal time bar was preventing many victims from pursuing compensation claims against the health board.
As such, former patients are now able to consult solicitors and potentially raise actions in the Court of Session.
Jules Rose was compensated after her surgery was botched by shamed medic Sam Eljamel
Ms Rose, who secured compensation in 2015 as a result of the harm she suffered at Eljamel’s hands, said she expects the amount paid out in compensation to rise signifcantly as pateints harmed by the shamed medic bring cases forward.
She said: ‘It’s only this year that, through our intense campaigning, we’ve been able to get the time bar reset from NHS Tayside.
‘Scotland may have seen half a billion paid out in compensation in the last 10 years, but I expect that figure will rise significantly in years to come because there are hundreds of patients who were treated by Eljamel.
‘Not everyone will meet the threshold for clinical negligence but each patients deserves the right for access to justice. These patients have been harmed through no fault of their own.’
Ms Rose, 57, said that litigation can be a lengthy process and one that can take its toll on patients seeking to go down that route.
She said: ‘It can take years. I fear health boards feel as if patients will just give up and go away.’
She also said that the amount that has been paid out for clinical negligence raises serious questions about patient safety in Scotland.
She said: ‘The greatest concern has to be about patient safety. What exactly is happening with the clinical governance systems within health boards in Scotland if we have this scale of claims coming through?
‘Because these figures clearly demonstrate that something is far, far wrong.’
She added: ‘These figures are not surprising but they are alarming.’
A public inquiry into the scandal surrounding Prof Eljamel has been hearing public evidence in recent weeks. It will hold evidential hearings in six sections.
The current phase has been hearing from witnesses including representatives of NHS Tayside, the Scottish government, Dundee University, and regulatory or professional bodies.
The second phase, in December, will hear evidence from former patients of Eljamel.
However, numerous attempts by the public inquiry to contact him have been unsuccessful.
The sheer scale of compensation claims, comes at a time when complaints about Scotland’s public services have hit a record high – many of them concerning health boards.
Some 6,588 disgruntled people asked the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to review their grievances with health boards, councils and other public organisations last year.
The figure was up 31 per cent on the 5,000 complaints received the previous year and part of a trend of rising demand. Among the thousands of complaints lodged with it in the last year were patients whose life-threatening conditions were misdiagnosed and people infuriated by the conduct of staff.
The Scottish Government spokesperson said the number or value of claims settled in any year does not directly correlate to an increase in incidents.
A spokesman added: ‘The NHS provides excellent care. But on the occasions where it does fall short of expectations, boards and healthcare providers must listen and act.
‘Overall responsibility and accountability lies with individual NHS Boards.’
