Maternity claims drive £4bn NHS bill for negligence

THE annual cost of clinical negligence cases in the health service is set to reach £4billion, thanks in part to "problems with maternity care" that leave children with severe injuries.

- BY JONATHAN WALKER

An inquiry by MPs warned the rising costs "divert vital resources away from our frontline health services".

The Commons public accounts committee said: "Behind these costs lie many tragic incidents of patient harm, with recent increases in damages being largely driven by a small number of high-value maternity cases each year."