Ministers have set aside £58bn to cover NHS negligence cases

The NHS's total liabilities for medical negligence had hit an "astounding" £58.2bn amid ministerial failure to improve patient safety, MPs warned yesterday.

- Denis Campbell

The Commons public accounts committee said the "jaw-dropping" sums being paid to victims of botched treatment combined with government inaction on reducing errors were "unacceptable".

The Department of Health and Social Care has set aside £58.2bn to settle lawsuits arising from clinical negligence that occurred in England before 1 April 2024, the committee disclosed.

The sum was the second-largest liability across government, with only nuclear decommissioning costlier, the committee said in a damning report.

"The fact that government has set aside tens of billions of pounds for clinical negligence payments, its second most costly liability after some of the world's most complex nuclear decommissioning projects, should give our entire society pause," said Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the Tory chair of the committee.

"This is a sign of a system struggling to do right by the people it is designed to help."