The House of Commons Library data commissioned by the Liberal Democrats shows 41% of compensation payouts related to maternity care, or £1.15bn. 

Liberal Democrat hospitals and primary care spokesperson, Jess Brown-Fuller, said: ‘From new hospitals to social and maternity care, ministers need to stop embracing the false economy of dither and delay and finally start delivering on our NHS.

‘That is why we need to see them complete their social care review within the next twelve months and implement the full actions from the Ockenden report immediately. Patients cannot afford the Government to drag its feet any longer.'

The 2024/25 stats reveal Barts Health NHS Trust paid out £94.5m, Mid and South Essex NHS Trust £65m and Manchester University NHS Trust £61m.

Almost two-thirds (63%), 126 of 201 NHS trusts and bodies who recorded full data saw an increase in the number of payments.

Of those, 72 (36%) saw the amount they had paid out rising by at least half on 2020/21, the first year that trust specific data was reported. 

The data also revealed a significant rise in the number of new claims being made compared with 2014/15, from 11,497 to 13,784 last year, a jump of 20%.

Salford Royal NHS Trusts saw a near threefold rise in claims since 2020/21 from 63 to 229. 

In total, 99 of the 187 (53%) NHS trusts and bodies saw a rise in the number of compensation claims with 62 (33%) seeing them rise by at least a fifth since 2020/21.