NHS pays out £160million for blunders

SCOTLAND’S NHS has paid out more than £1 0million in compensation to patients and their families in four years.

Data shows clinical negligence cases resulted in the deaths of patients, including a baby, between 2018 and 2022.

A total of 475 claims were settled, totalling £1 3.1million.

The figures were disclosed in a freedom of information request from the Scottish Conservatives, whose health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane blamed ‘dire planning’ by SNP health secretaries.

He added: ‘It goes without saying that this money could be far better spent on frontline patient care.’

Reasons for payouts included body parts being removed without consent and the death of a baby after an examination failed to detect a birth defect.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Our NHS learns constantly from care experiences that go well and those where standards falls short.’