A SPECIALIST NHS insurance premium to guard against medical negligence is costing the cash-starved trust that runs Barrow's hospital millions of pounds every year.

More than £30m has been paid to the NHS Litigation Authority's insurance scheme in rising premiums over the last five years by the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust - the body in charge of Furness General Hospital in Dalton Lane.

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All NHS trusts contribute to the scheme - with money paid out in compensation to former patients who successfully prove they have suffered clinical negligence at the hands of he NHS.

However, experts within the NHS Litigation Authority estimate around one third of the money paid out in settlements goes straight into the pockets of the legal profession rather than patients.

Aaron Cummins, director of finance at UHMBT, said a number of factors influenced the organisation's annual premium including the estimated cost of settlements for the year ahead.

"The existence of the risk pools has the effect of spreading the cost of claims over time.  

"Contributions are based on a number of factors including the type of trust, the services provided; the number of clinical staff employed and claims experience.

"As with any insurance, the premium is directly influenced by the number claims made nationally and by the trust."

In the 2011/12 year, hospital bosses paid £4,765,000 into the fund to cover £3.09m in compensation settlements, followed by £4,996,000 the following year when the total paid out was £6.2m.

The premium hit £5,299,000 in 2013/14 with settlements totalling £2.6m  paid out with the figures showing the figure paid into the scheme in 2014/15 was £6,127,000 though £6.8m was actually paid out to UHMBT patients in compensation.

Last year, all NHS Litigation Authority premiums were recalculated using a new formula - pushing the trust's fee skywards for 2015/16 to £9,497,000.

They contributed to payouts made by the NHS Litigation Authority, which last year spent £1.1bn on settled claims against the NHS - with around one third of the total going straight into the pockets of the legal profession.

This year, the payout figure is predicted to rise to £1.4bn to reflect a 'significant' increase in the number of claims reported in recent years.

The fees are said to be placing increased pressure on the ever-tightening annual budgets of hospitals nationwide - including that of UHMBT which is struggling to balance its books against an annual deficit of £30m.

Helen Vernon, chief executive of the NHS Litigation Authority, said: "Negligence claims place increasing pressure on the health service, frontline staff, our members and ultimately patients. 

"It is one area of the NHS where no-one would argue against a reduction."