Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust pays out over £5m in gynaecology negligence claims
Newly-released figures have revealed Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust paid out more than £5.4 million in gynaecology-related negligence claims over the past five years.
Data obtained by Medical Negligence Assist through Freedom of Information requests shows that Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust faced 31 gynaecology-related claims between 2020/21 and 2024/25, with 17 of those cases settled.
Over the five-year period, the trust – which runs Bedford Hospital and Luton & Dunstable Hospital – paid out a total of £5,477,998 in damages.
Compensation payments were disclosed in three separate years, including £573,000 in 2021/22, £162,249 in 2022/23, and a dramatic spike to £4,742,749 in 2023/24. No damages figures were disclosed for 2020/21 or 2024/25.
On average, successful claimants in Bedfordshire received approximately £322,235 each, a figure that significantly exceeds the national average at many NHS trusts and highlights the severity of harm suffered in settled cases.
While Bedfordshire’s payouts are substantial, they form part of a much wider national picture of gynaecological negligence across the NHS.
Across 94 NHS trusts in England, a staggering £91,817,142 was paid out in gynaecology-related compensation between 2020/21 and 2024/25.
We’ve approached Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust for comment.
The primary injury claimants filed nationally was that of ‘unnecessary pain’ - with 418 having been recorded in the last five years, while notably, there were 62 people who sought damages for ‘infertility’.