THE UNIVERSITY of Limerick Hospitals Group has paid out more than €178 million in 549 negligence and preventable accident claims since 2003.
The payouts were made by the group, which includes University Hospital Limerick, University Maternity Hospital Limerick, Croom Orthopaedic, St John’s, Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals.
The figures come from records of the State Claims Agency, which has been managing clinical claims since 2002 and which were published this week in the Irish Examiner.
The figure forms part of €2.4 billion in payout costs to the State since 2003, and the South/Southwest group, of which the ULHG group is part, accounts for the largest slice of those payments.
All of the payouts were made since 2003 but some of the incidents involved go back as far as 1945.
While some of the claims involve patients, payouts were also made to employees, and members of the public
Of the 6,289 claims paid out nationally over the period, 715 related to cases where a person had died.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said: “A significant proportion of claims relating to mortality are in respect of the resultant psychological injuries reported by family members or dependents of the deceased.”
The €2.4 billion in payouts does not include compensation payments related to claims from inquests or cases still to be settled by the State Claims Agency.
However, it does include payments in relation to the total costs, such as fees for damages as well as legal and expert costs.
HSE chief executive Paul Reid said that there is a “very strong focus on safety and quality at our board level through its reporting every month.
“We will always work with the State Claims Agency to see what learnings we can bring from any events that have happened.”
