PAYMENTS to GWH patients with a grievance have spiralled since 2008, figures show.

Last year the NHS Clinical Negligence Scheme paid out damages of £7.9m to Great Western Hospital patients who brought a claim against the trust.

Including court costs, the total paid out under the scheme reached £11.3m.

It represents a 1,200 per cent increase on the amount paid out in 2008/9 – nine years previously.

The figures were shared by NHS Resolution, the official body responsible for dealing with litigation claims against NHS hospitals and groups.

A spokesman for GWH said that the rise in claims payments was being seen across the country – but that the amount paid into the NHS Resolution fund by the hospital had remained the same.

Last year the hospital contributed £4.8m to the Clinical Negligence Scheme. Since 2008/9, they have paid in £37.2m.

A spokesman for Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “While the amount paid to claimants may have risen in recent years – a trend affecting many NHS organisations across the country – the actual amount the trust has paid to cover the cost of its legal cases has stayed the same for the past two years.

“Every year we handle more than 1,500,000 patient contacts, with the overwhelming majority feeling satisfied with their care and treatment.

“On very rare occasions, things may not go to plan and, of course, patients have a right to raise a claim.

“However these latest figures show that the number of actual claimants represent fewer than 0.0035 per cent of all people cared for by the trust in 2016/17.”

Last month, Great Western Hospitals trust agreed a £10.5million compensation package for a boy left severely disabled after complications in his delivery by caesarean section at the Princess Margaret Hospital.

The Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation trust did not admit liability, but instead settled the case – which was heard at London’s High Court.

They agreed to a £4.4m lump sum and index-linked, tax-free payments to cover the costs of the teenager’s care for the rest of his life.

Earlier this month, MPs on the House of Commons’ public accounts committee warned that financial pressure on NHS trusts could be pushing up growing clinical negligence costs.

They said that costs for NHS trusts had increased fourfold in 10 years – from £400m to £1.6bn last year.

Committee chairman Meg Hillier warned: “I am concerned that funding available for NHS services and the costs of clinical negligence are locked in a vicious spiral - one that without urgent action will spin out of control.

“In just a decade we have seen a four-fold increase in the annual cost to trusts of such negligence, depriving frontline care of badly needed funds and therefore heightening the risk of further increases in negligence claims.”

Responding to the report, a Government spokeswoman said they were developing proposals to fix the amount legal firms can recover from clinical negligence claims.

“We will look at all the options to develop a coherent strategy to tackle the rising costs,” she said.