ALMOST £33,000 has been paid out in legal fees as a result of compensation claims by staff at an East Lancashire hospital trust.
Payouts of up to £2,300 have been awarded to medical staff following four cases recorded against Whalley-based Calderstones Hospital.
But the compensation cash handouts were dwarfed by the legal fees totted up as a result of contesting the claims, official figures have revealed. Health workers' lawyers' bills topped £32,000 and the costs of defending the individual claims amounted to £16,651.
Two unsucccessful claims alone incurred fees of nearly £6,000 and £3,000 respectively.
Hospital administrator Christine Hargreaves says, in a report to the trust's board, that there has been an overall increasing trend in such cases, in recent years.
The number of claims in future at Calderstones could be curtailed though as a result of a new approach by the National Health Service Litigation Authority.
In future the payments in all claims, with the exception of defence solicitor costs, will be funded directly by staff, up to an agreed threshold.
No other liability claims were received by the trust in 2006/07. it has been confirmed.
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