COMPENSATION pay outs following blunders at Sussex hospitals could increase dramatically next year, experts have warned.

More than £38 million was paid out on behalf of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust by the NHS Litigation Authority in the three years to March 2015.

A total of £8.5 million was paid in the 2014/15 financial year but the Medical Defence Union, (MDU) which represents and provides legal cover for doctors, said this is set to rise in 2015/16.

Last week a disabled boy, who was left severely brain damaged following mistakes during his birth, was awarded £11.5 million in compensation against Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

The MDU has said urgent action is needed to prevent spiralling increases in multi-million pound compensation awards affecting NHS hospitals.

Michael Devlin, head of professional standards and liaison, said:“It is important to make it clear the size of payments is no reflection on patient safety or on clinical standards.

“Compensation awards are so high because they reflect the money the NHS has to pay to fund private health and social care for negligently damaged patients.

“Of course it is only right that patients who have been negligently harmed are properly compensated so their future health and social care needs are met.

“However we are seeing an increasing number of multi-million pound claims paid out on behalf of hospitals.

“In the year ending March 2015, more than £1 billion was paid out.

“This staggering amount means there is less money for care of other patients at a time when the NHS is facing unprecedented demand and pressure on costs.

"This is not a sustainable situation for the NHS or for taxpayers, who are footing these bills.”

The MDU is campaigning for legal reforms to ensure that in future, compensation payments stay fair but are also proportionate and affordable.

Its aims include reforming how compensation awards are calculated, caps on the level of damages awarded for future care and damages for loss of earnings capped at three times the national average salary per year.

Solicitors claim legal action is taken not just for financial compensation but because claimants have concerns about how complaints are handled.

They have claimed people often feel legal action is the only way to get a full explanation.