Poorer families denied millions in compensation over maternity failings

Poorer families are being denied millions of pounds in compensation from the NHS for maternity care failings compared with wealthier families, The Independent can reveal.

Families whose babies experience brain damage due to negligent maternity care can receive multimillion-pound payouts to cover costs relating to the child’s future care and accommodation, based on their medical need.

But a separate element covering the child’s predicted “loss of future earnings” is calculated on the basis of their family’s existing income and education levels, meaning that more affluent families get more cash.

Critics have condemned the system as “unfair”, highlighting the fact that it gives the least financial support to the families who “need it the most”, and have called for earnings payments to be linked to the average wage.

Two-thirds of NHS spending on compensation cases goes on maternity claims, according to NHS Resolution, the body that deals with compensation awards. Payouts for maternity negligence cost the taxpayer £2.6bn in 2022-23, the latest figures show, with the total cost of harm, including loss of earnings, valued at £6.6bn. Both figures were up on the previous year.

The Medical Defence Union (MDU), which represents doctors in negligence cases, has described the system as “flawed”. It believes loss of earnings payments should be capped at three times the average wage, annually – and that “parental education, earnings or wealth should play no part in the assessment of damages awarded to minors”.

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Source: The Independent, 22 February 2025