Well this is something that I didn't know! It was sent to me by a good friend this morning...

"The rate of clinical errors in Cumbria’s two hospitals is among the highest in the country, it has been revealed.

Statistics released this week have shown that £5.3 million was paid out to the victims of clinical negligence by North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust in 2008-09, the News and Star reports.

One woman who said she is not surprised by the news is Charlene Steel, whose baby suffered a brain injury because of errors at his birth at Cumberland Infirmary. She said she would travel elsewhere if she needed to use hospital services again.

This comes after figures for the UK as a whole showed that clinical negligence payouts reached £807 million last year, up by 22 per cent on the figure from 2007-08.

There were 8,885 claims brought against NHS trusts for medical blunders, it was found.

Anyone affected by errors during their hospital treatment should seek the advice of a solicitor specialising in clinical negligence claims."


£5.3 million!!! So this is not just all my imagination!