Revealed: £27bn bill for failings in England's mother and baby care

Potential cost since 2019 is higher than total NHS maternity budget

- Josh Halliday

The NHS is facing an "absolutely shocking" £27bn bill for maternity failings in England, the Guardian can reveal, after a series of hospital scandals triggered a record level of legal claims.

Hundreds of babies and women have died or suffered life-altering conditions as a result of botched care in NHS trusts in recent years, prompting the government to launch a rapid national inquiry.

Analysis of NHS figures shows the potential bill for maternity negligence in England since 2019 has reached £27.4bn - far more than the health service's roughly £18bn budget for this sector in that time.

The number of families taking legal action against the NHS for obstetrics errors rose to nearly 1,400 a year in 2023, double the number in 2007, according to data released under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act.

The Labour MP Paulette Hamilton, the acting chair of the Commons health and social care select committee, said the figures were "absolutely shocking" and represented a "devastatingly high number of deaths and injuries of mothers and babies". She added: "The words 'eye-watering' come nowhere near to describing the enormous financial cost of these cases to the NHS, arising from failings within its own provision of care."

An NHS source said about half of the claims may not result in compensation, so the total payout would be lower. However, compensation is only part of the £27bn, with a larger share being legal costs. In six years, the NHS spent £24.6m on legal fees for claims that did not lead to damages.