In the Guardian 19 February 2026, the above and:

The NHS will have to spend more money settling lawsuits involving negligence during childbirth after a supreme court ruling that lawyers said puts right a “historic injustice”. The court ruled on Wednesday that children in England who suffer catastrophic injuries while they are being born can claim damages for future earnings they would otherwise have had.

The ruling on “lost years damages” means that children whose life expectancy is shortened can recover compensation for being unable to work. It comes amid mounting concern at the rising cost of medical negligence to the NHS in England – its liabilities have hit £60bn – much of which is due to errors made during childbirth.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/feb/18/nhs-spend-more-settle-lawsuits-negligence-childbirth-supreme-court

Last year, £1.3 million was paid out in Scotland in 2024/205 compared to £27 BILLION in England.

Per head, that £1.3 million becomes £13 billion, less than half the NHS England pay-outs of £27 billion.

Is this just a one-off?

No, from 2015/16 to 2024/2025, NHS England paid out out £5.97bn for maternity negligence.⁴

With a tenth of the population but the same troubles in maternity services, Scotland would have paid out £597m.

For the, I appreciate slightly different ten year period, 2013/14 to 2022/23 (the only comparable study I can find), it was £177.89m⁵, less than one third.

Using two slightly varying (2 years-off) sets of data would be problematic if the difference was small but at more than 3 times higher we can be confident that the contrast is reliable.

Sources:

1. https://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.scot/publications/media-release-inspection-report-royal-infirmary-of-edinburgh-nhs-lothian/
2. https://x.com/i/grok?conversation=1983476698260623709
3. https://www.cwj.co.uk/site/newsandevents/legalnews/costs_of_NHS_maternity_care_claims_revealed.html
4. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.01.26352218v1.full.pdf

How bad are things in NHS England’s maternity units for such a difference in pay-outs to settle negligence.

Surely it cannot be any worse than the problems Anas Sarwar has found at the QEUH?

Just last week, on BBC Breakfast, we hear of a joint BBC News/New Statesman, external investigation into maternity care at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (UH Sussex) which has found:

• At least 55 babies who died may have survived with better care between 2019 and 2023
• A review of nine stillbirths in 2021 and 2022 found missed opportunities in all cases
• External investigators warned that a “normal birth” culture (one that seeks to promote vaginal delivery with minimal medical intervention) was causing concern
• Payments for maternity errors at the trust were the highest in England last year

No government nor former government minister is associated, in the BBC Health report, with these horrific figures. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg2n644l44o