Almost 100 victims and bereaved relatives of the recent medical negligence scandal from Stafford NHS will be receiving more than £1 million in compensatory damages in the wake of the most massive group claim made against one hospital in the UK.
The total figure of victims who survived and families of patients who died after receiving abysmal levels of medical care stands at 97. Each will receive payments of as much as £27,500 in personal injury compensation.
The total settlement in aggregate offered by the trust is for £1.1 million, in addition to an apology for each individual case. The trust however made no admission that the hospital’s failings resulted in human rights violations.
Media and industry insiders are calling the series of incidents the most serious hospital scandal in over ten years. A public inquiry is slated to begin sometime in the near future.
In 2009 inspectors discovered that death expectations for the hospital were exceeded by the hundreds between the years of 2005 and 2008. Conditions at the site were reported to be “appalling” by some observers.
Some examples of such failures to provide adequate care included Emergency and Accident patients having their treatment decided by hospital receptionists and patients suffering from dehydration resorting to drink from flower vases in order to get some water into their systems.
While hospital managers made attempts to hit targets and cut costs, as many as 1,200 needless patient deaths may have occurred over the three year period.
The personal injury claims of the 97 plaintiffs in this case include 84 instances of death and covers instances of medical negligence ranging from 2002 to the current year.
Payouts for the compensation claims range from £27,500 at the highest to just £1,000 at the low end of the spectrum. The average compensation payment for those who suffered through and survived failure in care levels, and also for bereaved relatives of deceased patients, stands at approximately £11,000.