500 negligence claims inWestern Trust

FIVE hundred negligence claims alleging breaches of the duty of care by local health care and social staff were reported at the Western Trust in 2010/11 - more than anywhere but Belfast, it has been revealed.

By The Newsroom

Published 19th May 2012, 12:43 BST

At the end of March 2011 414 (82.8 per cent) of these cases remained open. Figures for the number of these cases which were settled or closed were not provided.

Health Minister Edwin Poots revealed the information for 2010/11 stating that the figures for the past year have not been compiled.

He said the 500 figure referred to the number of clinical/social care negligence cases open at any stage during 2010/11.

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) defines negligence as “a breach of duty of care by members of the health care and social professions employed by HSC organisations or by others consequent on decisions or judgements made by members of those professions acting in the

course of their employment, and which are admitted as negligent by the employer or determined as such through the legal process.”