ALMOST £25 million has been paid out by the NHS to compensate for mistakes made at Sussex hospitals.

The figure was spent in one year period to deal with claims made by patients, relatives and staff.

The figure, which includes damages as well as legal costs involved, covers April 2015 to the end of March but includes cases that happened in previous years because it can take time to reach a settlement.

Compensation claims are dealt with by the national NHS Litigation Authority, which paid out £13,497.633 for cases involving Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

This includes £11.5m awarded in December to a five-year-old who was severely brain damaged at birth at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Payouts linked to Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust reached £6.663.758 and Brighton and East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust was £4.348.788.

Solicitors say for many claimants it is not just about money but also because of concerns about how complaints are handled.

They say people often feel it can be the only way to get the full explanation they need.

Lisa Jordan, head of the specialist medical negligence team at lawyers Irwin Mitchell, said: “It’s a sad fact that despite all the great work done in the NHS there are still too many avoidable mistakes occurring, many of which have life-changing consequences for patients.

"It is good to see that the NHS Litigation Authority is increasing its focus on improving patient safety but much more could and should be done to reduce the number of avoidable errors.

“Those patients who have suffered serious harm as a result of negligent treatment need highly specialised lawyers to fight for fair compensation for them.

"We are leading the way in ensuring that injured patients are able to get their lives back on track and able to meet the sometimes life-long costs of care, rehabilitation and medical treatment.

"Legal action also inevitably leads to improvements in patient safety to reduce the risk of further mistakes.

“We and our clients would much prefer that these mistakes did not happen and we work collaboratively with the authority and other organisations, where possible to highlight and tackle key risk areas.”

A Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals spokesman said: “We take patient safety extremely seriously at all times and we fully investigate any incident that gives rise to a complaint or legal claim to try to ensure it does not happen again.

“It is important to make clear that payments made by the NHS Litigation Authority are not a reflection of the level of safety or quality of services within individual trusts.”

The amount paid out in 2015/16 s about the same as the year before.

SINGLE £11.5M PAYOUT ONE OF BIGGEST IN UK

LAST December the High Court ruled £11.5 million should be awarded to a five-year-old child who was born severely brain damaged.

The youngster was left needing a lifetime of care following the incident at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton in 2012.

The boy’s umbilical cord had suffered a prolapse causing a shortage of oxygen to his brain, which left him suffering cerebral palsy affecting all four limbs.

Midwives were blamed for not noticing or responding to the injury and the trust admitted liability for the incident.

Interim payments have allowed the family to access specialist rehabilitation, which has funded a move to more suitable rented accommodation with his parents, a team of carers, a team of therapists, specialist equipment and a wheelchair-adapted vehicle.

The round-the-clock care he needs will now be funded by the payout by the NHS Litigation Authority, which also includes a sum for lost earnings and provision for future education costs.

Following the High Court hearing, specialist medical negligence lawyers Irwin Mitchell, who represented the boy’s family, said they hoped lessons would be learned by the hospital and staff so patient safety in this situation could be improved.

The huge sum is believed to be the largest ever payout made on behalf of the Royal Sussex and falls only 10 per cent shy of the UK record payout for a medical negligence lawsuit.

This was the £13 million paid on behalf of the Royal Preston Hospital, Lancashire, in May 2015.