NHS trusts serving West and East Sussex have paid out more than £1.7 million in gynaecology-related medical negligence claims over the past five years, new figures reveal.
Statistics obtained by Medical Negligence Assist through freedom of information (FOI) requests show that University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust and East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust together paid £1,703,142 between 2020/21 and 2024/25.
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust faced 49 claims, settling 19, and paid out £1,268,142. East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust faced nine claims, settling five, with damages totalling £435,000.
Across Sussex, 24 successful claimants received compensation – averaging £70,964 per case.
Nationally, 94 NHS trusts in England paid a combined £91,817,142 in gynaecology-related negligence damages over the five-year period.
When compared with neighbouring counties, Sussex’s total sits below Surrey, but above Kent on average payout size.
In Kent, three trusts paid a combined £1,966,599, with 36 claims settled, meaning successful claimants took home an average of just £54,627 each. The bulk of Kent’s compensation came from East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, which alone paid £1,671,789 after settling 31 claims.
Meanwhile, Surrey recorded the highest overall spend among the counties analysed. Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust paid out a staggering £5,681,918, settling 33 claims, with an average payout of £172,179 per claimant — more than double the Sussex average.
In Hampshire, three trusts paid a combined £1,969,155, settling 25 claims, equating to an average payout of £78,766. Almost all of that figure came from Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, which paid £1,798,602 alone.
The data uncovers the true extent of medical negligence in the service, and now solicitor Gareth LLoyd, head of medical negligence at JF Law, has urged the Labour government to intervene.
He said: “The figures paint a distressing time for women. As the data shows, negligence in gynaecological care can lead to serious injuries such as infertility, bladder and bowel problems, which can throw people’s lives upside down.
“With the Labour government promising to tackle problems within the NHS, this £100 million compensation bill should prompt them to take a hard look at gynaecology and to put an effective plan in place to tackle the issues and raise the standard of care.
“More needs to be done to protect women in the UK, and for those women who suffered due to medical negligence, they deserve to be compensated.”
The primary injury claimants filed nationally was that of ‘unnecessary pain’ – with 418 having been recorded in the last five years, while notably, there were 62 people who sought damages for ‘infertility’.
While the damages paid out by NHS trusts in England in its most recent figures on record were almost £2 million less compared to those handed out in 2023/24, it came during a time of widespread strikes at the service.
In 2020/21, £17,782,455 was paid out, with £18,777,210 handed out in 2021/22, a further £18,013,131 in 2022/23, £19,565,601 in 2023/24 and 2024/25 saw patients be compensated £17,678,745.
In total there were 150 cancer-related claims – 62 of which were tragically filed by women who caught their cancer in advanced stages due to the negligence of NHS trusts in England.
The figures follow a recent survey carried out by researchers at Imperial College London that found that gynaecologists and obstetricians recorded high-levels of burnout since 2020.
The World Health Organisation recognise ‘burnout’ as an ‘occupational phenomenon’ and results in workers feeling exhausted and if left unchecked, it can lead to a lack of empathy and compassion towards patients.
The 2022 survey found that out of the 1,114 doctors who participated, 72% met the criteria for burnout.
Medical Negligence Assist offers expert legal support and advice to those affected by gynaecology negligence. You can book a free consultation or call their 24-hour helpline by visiting their website.
