North Wales: Health Chiefs Brace for Surge in Covid Compensation Claims

The punitive costs of medical compensation claims in North Wales have been highlighted as health chiefs brace for a surge in Covid compensation claims. This comes after it emerged that a woman was given contraceptive advice despite being left infertile by a surgical 'Never Event' as a reproductive organ was mistakenly removed.

Between December and January, the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has processed 24 claims for clinical negligence and personal injury. The total costs of these claims totaled £2.83m before reimbursement from the Welsh Risk Pool, a fund subsidised by the Welsh Government that grants health bodies insurance against risk.

These complaints ranged from hospital falls to delays and failures associated with diagnosis. The highest single pay-out was £1.09m for a failure by mental health experts to "recognise and reach a consensus in relation to the level of risk of the patient".

Following these claims, the health board has said it is preparing itself for a surge in number of claims following a UK-wide public inquiry into the Covid pandemic. The public enquiry is expected to begin this spring and will be headed by Baroness Heather Hallett, a retired Court of Appeal judge who led the Iraq Fatalities Investigations.

A "Never Event" was flagged up by the health board as requiring rapid analysis in Betsi's Patient Safety Report for December and January. This related to the erroneous surgical removal of a healthy fallopian tube of a patient.

The patient- a woman diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy, had her fallopian tubes including her second fallopian tube, containing the fertilised egg removed, which means she would be unable to get pregnant naturally in future.

This error was apparently compounded by the contraceptive advice she was given when she was sent home despite both fallopian tubes of the patient being removed.

Dr Nick Lyons, Betsi's executive medical director, issued an apology to the patient adding that a comprehensive review is being carried out but declined to add further details due to patient confidentiality.
Having recorded five Never Events in 2020-21 and six in 2019-20, Betsi have now recorded nine so far in 2021-22. These are totally avoidable incidents that have the potential to cause serious harm or death to patients.

The health board between December 2021 and January 22 received a further 40 potential. Of these, 31 were related to clinical negligence and nine to personal injury. Although the number is slightly lower to the previous period reported, the health board is bracing for a "significant impact" on its finances from future claims.

NHS bodies are required to meet the first £25,000 of any claim while the rest can be paid out by the Welsh Risk Pool (WRP). However, it has been noted that the next funding allocation from the Welsh Government will not be enough to meet expected Covid claims. Consequently, the health board will be required to pay an additional £2.35m to its existing contribution.

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This release was published on openPR.