Local NHS Trust pays out more than £1.3m in mental health negligence cases.

The NHS trust covering north-east London paid out more than £1.3million in mental health negligence cases in five years, new data shows.

Local democracy reporter Sebastian Mann today writes in the Havering Daily.

A total of 50 claims were lodged against North East London Foundation Trust (NELFT) between April 2019 and April 2024.

Of those, 14 were settled and saw the trust pay out £1,366,348, according to research conducted by Medical Negligence Assist.

The data was compiled through a series of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

NELFT provides a range of mental and physical health services for residents in Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge and Waltham Forest.

A spokesperson for NELFT said: “The human cost of these tragic incidents is incredibly high for patients and their families, and it also has a significant impact on frontline staff.

“That’s why we’re investing resources in learning and prevention – to ensure every patient receives safe and compassionate care, and to improve outcomes in mental health services.”

A total of 362 claims and incidents of mental health negligence have been reported to NHS Resolution, an arms-length litigation body, about London trusts since 2019. Around 60% were settled, with damages totalling £22,579,885.

NELFT saw the second highest number of claims of all the NHS trusts in the capital, according to the firm’s research.

East London NHS Foundation Trust, which oversees care in the same boroughs, was involved in the most with 66. The data showed it settled 23 claims and paid out damages of £1,134,929.

The NHS as a whole has paid out £121m in claims over its mental health services since 2019.

That includes £51m in claims related to deaths, £28m for claims over failures or delays in treatment, and a further £18m related to self-harm.

The findings follow the launch of the Lampard Inquiry on 9th September. Chaired by Baroness Lampard, it is the first public inquiry specifically looking into mental health deaths.

It was prompted by ‘multiple failings’ across the country, such as the death of Matthew Leahy in 2012.

The 20-year-old died after he was found unresponsive in his room at a secure mental health unit in Chelmsford, eight days after he was sectioned.

An inquest found his death occurred after a “series of multiple failings and missed opportunities”.

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