Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust has paid out almost £20million in the last five years to patients who have lodged claims related to birth injuries.

Figures from NHS Resolution reveal that 42 claims were lodged between 2020-2025 with 21 settled.

NHS trusts have experienced record levels of legal claims made against them for maternity failings in recent years. The figures show that in total trusts have paid out more than £2.57billion in the last five years to settle obstetrics claims.

In Gloucestershire, the highest number of claims came in 2022/23, with a total of 11. This dropped down to nine in 2023/24 and six in 2024/25.

The trust paid out a total of £19,750,223 with the most common claims related to stillborns, of which there were five cases, and cerebral palsy, also five cases.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is still working to make improvements to its maternity services after they were rated 'inadequate' in April 2022 by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

A follow-up inspection in March 2024 resulted in a further warning for Gloucestershire  and a 'requires improvement' rating for Stroud Maternity Unit.

In September the Trust published two external reviews,  commissioned to identify what more it could learn from the deaths of seven mothers (2017-2023) and 44 newborn babies (2020-2023).

They made a number of recommendations and highlighted some failings in care, including nine neonatal cases, where there were missed opportunities that could have potentially changed the outcome, for which the trust said it was deeply sorry.

The maternity unit at Cheltenham General Hospital remains closed after shutting its doors in 2022.

It means women from Cheltenham and the surrounding area will continue to need to travel to Gloucester or Stroud to give birth.

In June health secretary Wes Streeting ordered a national investigation into "failing" services for women and babies, which classed as many as two-thirds of 131 NHS maternity units as "inadequate" or "requires improvement".

In July it was revealed the NHS is facing a £27bn bill for maternity failings in England, after a series of hospital scandals triggered a record level of legal claims, reported the Guardian.

The number of families taking legal action against the NHS for obstetrics errors rose to a record of nearly 1,400 a year in 2023, double the number in 2007, according to FOI figures.

The new data released this week reveals the cost to taxpayers of failings in obstetrics departments.

Medical Negligence Assist obtained figures for all NHS Trusts, with more than five birth injury claims from 2020-2025, through FOI requests to NHS Resolution. It is an arms-length body of the Department of Health and Social Care that provides expertise to the NHS in England for fairly resolving disputes and claims.

The data showed a total of 6,413 claims were made to 119 trusts for obstetric negligence between the financial years 2020/21 and 2024/25.

Of these claims, 2,955 were settled with trusts having to pay out a total of £2,242,073,583 in compensation to claimants who may have suffered a range of injuries.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust topped the list with 162 claims. It has paid out £70.4m since 2020.

There are many possible primary injuries associated with these claims, including cerebral palsy, psychological damage and fatalities.

However, the main injury noted in many claims made against the NHS was stillbirths, which were responsible for 272 claims over the past five years.

Gareth Lloyd, a medical negligence solicitor for legal firm JF Law, said: "The NHS routinely pays out millions of pounds in compensation every year for entirely avoidable injuries suffered by both mother and baby as a result of substandard maternity care.

"If a baby is not delivered correctly, the nature of these injuries can often be life-changing, affecting not only the child but the entire family."

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "The NHS has in place an insurance scheme so that any patient who has received care that has caused harm can bring a claim against the NHS. This process is independent of NHS Trusts like ours through an organisation called NHS Resolution.

"Our Trust has more than 100,000 contacts with children and young people every year in the care we provide. We know that on occasions when mistakes happen, it can have a devastating and life-changing impact on patients and their families, particularly when they relate to children who may require lifetime care and support. 

"In every situation it's important we never lose sight of the real human impact in these cases and that they hold important learning for Trusts across the country seeking to improve the safety of care we all provide."