§ NHS · TRUST

Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

NHS Trust · Clinical negligence claims data for 2024/25

Maternity TrustEast of EnglandNR4 7UYMember since 1995

Total paid 2024/25

£22.4M

Claims received

71

Avg cost per claim

£315K

Region rank

#6 / 21

G
ClaimGavel Assistant
● Online · Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · negligence · free & confidential
FREE
TELL US WHAT HAPPENED — TYPE HERE

Start typing — your likely claim, value and time limit appear here.

Describe what happened (a sentence or two) to begin.

Free · confidential · not legal adviceEngland

NHS Negligence Payouts Are at Record Levels

Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust received £22.4M in 2024/25, against a national total of £3.1B. NHS negligence payments have grown consistently over 19 years.

£581.7M
£639.2M
£737.2M
£790.3M
£882.0M
£1.3B
£1.3B
£1.2B
£1.2B
£1.5B
£1.7B
£2.2B
£2.4B
£2.3B
£2.2B
£2.4B
£2.6B
£2.8B
£3.1B
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024

This trust

£22.4M

71 claims in 2024/25

National total

£3.1B

All NHS trusts combined

This trust's share

0.73%

Of national negligence payments

What is an NHS Trust?

An NHS Trust is an organisational unit of the National Health Service that typically operates multiple hospitals, community clinics, and specialist services under one legal entity. All clinical negligence claims and payment figures on this page relate to the trust as a whole, not to any individual hospital or site.

Types of Clinical Negligence Claims

NHS negligence claims span 19 medical specialties. While trust-level data isn't broken down by specialty, these are the national figures for 2024/25 — ordered by total payments.

#1
Obstetrics CP/BD

cerebral palsy & brain damage — e.g. birth injuries causing permanent disability

£1.1B36.8%

Total payments

£1.1B

Claims settled

237

Avg per claim

£4.2M

View full obstetrics cp/bd statistics →
#2
Other

e.g. physiotherapy injuries, dietetics errors, pharmacy dispensing mistakes

£461.6M15.3%

Total payments

£461.6M

Claims settled

5,160

Avg per claim

£57K

View full other statistics →
#3
Emergency Medicine

e.g. misdiagnosis in A&E, delayed treatment, triage failures

£249.7M8.3%

Total payments

£249.7M

Claims settled

1,327

Avg per claim

£127K

View full emergency medicine statistics →
#4
Paediatrics

e.g. missed meningitis, delayed diagnosis, medication dosing errors

£210.8M7.0%

Total payments

£210.8M

Claims settled

229

Avg per claim

£757K

View full paediatrics statistics →
#5
Orthopaedic Surgery

e.g. failed joint replacements, fracture mismanagement, nerve damage

£178.6M5.9%

Total payments

£178.6M

Claims settled

1,101

Avg per claim

£100K

View full orthopaedic surgery statistics →
#6
Obstetrics Non CP/BD

other obstetric claims — e.g. surgical errors during delivery, maternal injuries

£176.0M5.8%

Total payments

£176.0M

Claims settled

1,016

Avg per claim

£108K

View full obstetrics non cp/bd statistics →
#7
General surgery
£104.1M3.4%

Total payments

£104.1M

Claims settled

0

Avg per claim

£0

View full general surgery statistics →
#8
Neurosurgery

e.g. spinal surgery errors, nerve damage, post-operative complications

£77.1M2.5%

Total payments

£77.1M

Claims settled

157

Avg per claim

£344K

View full neurosurgery statistics →
#9
Radiology

e.g. missed findings on scans, delayed cancer diagnosis, reporting errors

£71.9M2.4%

Total payments

£71.9M

Claims settled

460

Avg per claim

£95K

View full radiology statistics →
#10
Gynaecology

e.g. surgical complications, missed cancer diagnoses, fertility treatment errors

£67.0M2.2%

Total payments

£67.0M

Claims settled

626

Avg per claim

£55K

View full gynaecology statistics →
#11
General medicine
£64.8M2.1%

Total payments

£64.8M

Claims settled

0

Avg per claim

£0

View full general medicine statistics →
#12
Gastroenterology

e.g. missed bowel cancer, endoscopy perforations, delayed diagnosis

£41.5M1.4%

Total payments

£41.5M

Claims settled

326

Avg per claim

£79K

View full gastroenterology statistics →
#13
Ophthalmology

e.g. cataract surgery errors, missed glaucoma, delayed treatment

£37.1M1.2%

Total payments

£37.1M

Claims settled

258

Avg per claim

£84K

View full ophthalmology statistics →
#14
Neurology

e.g. missed stroke, delayed brain tumour diagnosis, epilepsy mismanagement

£37.0M1.2%

Total payments

£37.0M

Claims settled

127

Avg per claim

£211K

View full neurology statistics →
#15
Neonatology CP/BD

newborn cerebral palsy & brain damage — e.g. oxygen deprivation at birth

£31.0M1.0%

Total payments

£31.0M

Claims settled

11

Avg per claim

£2.5M

View full neonatology cp/bd statistics →
#16
Cardiology

e.g. missed heart attacks, stent complications, delayed diagnosis

£31.0M1.0%

Total payments

£31.0M

Claims settled

200

Avg per claim

£94K

View full cardiology statistics →
#17
Urology

e.g. delayed cancer diagnosis, surgical nerve damage, catheter injuries

£29.2M1.0%

Total payments

£29.2M

Claims settled

265

Avg per claim

£63K

View full urology statistics →
#18
Ambulance

e.g. delayed response, incorrect triage, treatment errors en route

£27.1M0.9%

Total payments

£27.1M

Claims settled

170

Avg per claim

£107K

View full ambulance statistics →
#19
Neonatology Non CP/BD

other newborn claims — e.g. infections, feeding injuries, delayed treatment

£16.0M0.5%

Total payments

£16.0M

Claims settled

43

Avg per claim

£317K

View full neonatology non cp/bd statistics →

Where the Money Goes

Of the £22.4M paid, 79% went directly to patients as compensation — the remainder covered legal costs on both sides.

Patient compensation£17.7M
NHS legal costs£991K
Claimant legal costs£3.7M

Average Cost Per Claim

How the average cost per claim at this trust compares to regional and national averages. Higher per-claim costs can indicate more complex or severe cases.

This trust

£315K

National average

£240K

+32%above national average

This trust

£315K

East of England average

£240K

+32%above regional average

Maternity & Obstetric Claims

Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides maternity services. Obstetric claims account for 63% of this trust's total negligence payments — obstetric claims are tracked separately due to their typically much higher value.

Obstetric claims£14.2M
All other claims£8.2M

Obstetric claims

7

10% of all claims

Obstetric payments

£14.2M

63% of total paid

Avg per obstetric claim

£2.0M

View national maternity claims data →

§ PUBLISHED JUDGMENTS

Court judgments involving Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Published judgments of the courts of England and Wales naming this trust as defendant, linked to their source. Judgments are a small, unrepresentative slice of claims — most settle privately — and a judgment for the trust is as likely as one against it.

Claimant succeeded

Cripps v Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

[2024] EWHC 615 (KB)·2024·Damages assessed at trial

The trust admitted that a misreported smear delayed the diagnosis of cervical cancer, and the claimant, who lost her fertility through treatment, asked for a further interim payment to fund surrogacy abroad. The judge refused because the evidence was not yet complete enough to be confident a trial judge would allow that cost.

Even with liability admitted, an interim payment will only be ordered for sums the court is confident will be recovered at trial. Whether overseas surrogacy costs are recoverable depends on a reasonableness test decided on full evidence.

Claimant succeeded£340,000

Bayless & Ors v Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

[2023] EWHC 2986 (KB)·2023·Liability decided at trial

The Trust admitted it missed an aortic dissection that emergency surgery would probably have cured, and settled the fatal claim for £340,000. When the widow and children later sued for psychiatric injury from witnessing the death, the Trust tried to strike that out but withdrew after discovering the earlier settlement had never been court-approved.

Fatal claims involving children need court approval of any settlement or it may not bind them. A missed aortic dissection in a chest-pain patient was accepted as negligent and fatal.

Contains information licensed under the Open Justice - Licence v2.0. Judgments from Find Case Law, The National Archives. Summaries are ours; amounts only where printed in the judgment.

Source: NHS Resolution Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25. Data covers the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST), Existing Liabilities Scheme (ELS), and Risk Pooling Scheme for Trusts (RPST). This information is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.