§ NHS · TRUST

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

NHS Trust · Clinical negligence claims data for 2024/25

Maternity TrustYorkshire and The HumberS5 7AUMember since 2001

Total paid 2024/25

£32.9M

Claims received

130

Avg cost per claim

£253K

Region rank

#2 / 22

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NHS Negligence Payouts Are at Record Levels

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust received £32.9M 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

£32.9M

130 claims in 2024/25

National total

£3.1B

All NHS trusts combined

This trust's share

1.07%

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 £32.9M paid, 70% went directly to patients as compensation — the remainder covered legal costs on both sides.

Patient compensation£23.1M
NHS legal costs£2.1M
Claimant legal costs£7.8M

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

£253K

National average

£240K

+6%above national average

This trust

£253K

Yorkshire and The Humber average

£240K

+6%above regional average

Maternity & Obstetric Claims

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides maternity services. Obstetric claims account for 66% of this trust's total negligence payments — obstetric claims are tracked separately due to their typically much higher value.

Obstetric claims£21.8M
All other claims£11.1M

Obstetric claims

11

8% of all claims

Obstetric payments

£21.8M

66% of total paid

Avg per obstetric claim

£2.0M

View national maternity claims data →

§ PUBLISHED JUDGMENTS

Court judgments involving Sheffield Teaching 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

CCC (by her mother and litigation friend MMM) v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

[2026] UKSC 5·2026·Appeal decision

A child left profoundly disabled by negligence at birth was refused 'lost years' damages for earnings she would have made in the years her injury cut from her life, because a 1982 Court of Appeal case barred such awards to young children. The Supreme Court (Lady Rose dissenting) overruled that rule and sent the case back for the lost-years loss to be assessed.

Claimants injured as young children whose life expectancy has been shortened can now claim for earnings in the 'lost years', on the same principles as adults. This can add substantially to catastrophic injury awards.

Claimant succeeded£6.87M

CCC (suing by her mother and litigation friend MMM) v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

[2023] EWHC 1770 (KB)·2023·Damages assessed at trial

The CTG showed a pathological trace that went unread for 50 minutes before an emergency caesarean; the child was born with severe quadriplegic cerebral palsy and the Trust admitted liability in 2019. After a nine-day trial on damages, Ritchie J awarded a lump sum of about £6.87m plus care periodical payments of nearly £395,000 a year.

Where liability is admitted but the parties are far apart on the cost of care, housing and equipment, the court will hold a full quantum trial and decide each head of loss. This judgment is a rare published breakdown of a complete cerebral palsy award.

Claim failed

Mellor v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust & Ors

[2004] EWHC 780 (QB)·2004·Liability decided at trial

Mrs Mellor had years of chest pain with strong cardiac risk factors; a hospital cardiologist wrongly described her exercise test as negative and discharged her, and she died of a cardiac arrest a year later. The judge found the discharge negligent but that the claimant could not prove she would have reached angiography and treatment in time, so the claim failed; the claims against the two GPs also failed.

Proving a doctor was negligent is not enough: the claimant must also show that proper care would have changed the outcome. Where the deceased would only have had routine priority for investigation, a claim can fail on causation even with a clear breach.

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.