NHS pays out £200,000 every week in compensation to patients who have suffered from BED SORES in hospital
- Last year saw NHS payouts reach a record of £10.3million – £200,000 a week
- Some 150 years ago Florence Nightingale said bedsores were nurses failure
- There were a record number of cases settled last year with large payouts
Published: 20:37 EDT, 8 September 2019 | Updated: 02:50 EDT, 9 September 2019
The NHS is paying out £200,000 every week to settle claims brought by patients left to suffer from excruciating bedsores.
Last year saw payouts reach a record £10.3million. But an extra £10.5million was also racked up in legal fees – bringing the total to around £400,000 a week.
More than 150 years ago, Florence Nightingale said that a patient with bedsores represented a failure in nursing care, as patients should be moved regularly to prevent the illness developing.
Last year saw payouts for bedsores reach a record £10.3million. But an extra £10.5million was also racked up in legal fees – bringing the total to around £400,000 a week (file image)
Now figures from NHS Resolution show there were a record number of cases settled last year, including ten where the patient had to have a limb amputated.
The average compensation cheque is around £37,000.
Bedsores occur when a patient lies immobile for a period of time, unable to get up, move around or shift their weight.
The pressure disrupts the flow of blood through the skin, so it becomes starved of oxygen and nutrients and begins to break down, leading to an ulcer that can eat through flesh and organs – right through to the bone.
These are often found on the heel, back and elbows.
More than 150 years ago, Florence Nightingale (pictured) said a patient with bedsores represented a failure in nursing care, as patients should be moved regularly
Solicitors firm Curtis Legal said it recently won a £42,000 compensation for a woman who developed a pressure sore on her lower back after she was given an epidural during childbirth and left unable to move for a few hours.
It also won £5,000 for an elderly woman who developed a sore on her leg and £9,000 for a man who got a sore on his heel while recovering from heart bypass surgery.
Peter Walsh, of charity Action Against Medical Accidents said: ‘Avoidable bedsores are the cause of misery for thousands of patients and sometimes even death, as well as costing the NHS millions of pounds.
‘Serious bedsores should almost never be allowed to be acquired in hospitals which is precisely why in the United States they have been designated a “never event” – something we have been calling for in England.
‘So far, the NHS has refused, but whether the NHS agrees to this or not, there is no doubt that more needs to be done to tackle this huge problem.
‘Better staffing on wards is probably the most pressing need.’
An NHS England spokesman said: ‘Rising claims do not mean rising cases – action to reduce pressure ulcers has already seen 50 per cent reductions in sores in some parts of the country, with further improvements expected.’
