The ambulance service which covers Dorset has paid out more than £3 million in medical negligence claims in the past year.

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust has stressed that a number of these claims are historic, long-running claims that were settled in the last 12 months.

It comes after NHS Resolution, which handles medical negligence claims on behalf of NHS Trusts, revealed that negligence payments had risen by 9.9% from 2021/22 to 2022/23.

The organisation, which is responsible for providing ambulance services for the NHS across South West England, received 22 new, potential clinical negligence claims from July 2022 to July 2023.

The total paid out by the trust came to £3,075,209.40 dwarfing the figure of £498,756 paid out by South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

Medical negligence occurs when a healthcare professional provides substandard care to a patient that falls below the standard expected of any healthcare professional.

A claim may arise if the patient subsequently suffers unnecessary or avoidable harm.

Nick Banks, Head of Medical Negligence at JF Law (which owns the Legal Expert brand), warned that the consequences for medical negligence can be "devastating".

He said: "As well as the obvious emotional impact, injuries and bereavements can cause a bigger financial impact than many households can bear, particularly in the current cost of living crisis, when many are already struggling to make ends meet.

"Whilst some people understandably worry that making a claim will affect front line care, the reality is that hospitals and GPs are always insured against such claims.

"As such, any damages owed are paid by the insurers, and do not affect the care other patients are receiving."

The Trust paid £3m in damages relating to clinical negligence claims for the period quoted, this included two historical, long-running claims, that were settled during this period.

One of the claims was from 12 years ago and the other was from seven years ago.

These claims together made up a large proportion of the total settlement paid in this period.

The Trust received 22 new, potential clinical negligence claims in the same period quoted, not 22 successful litigated claims.

Every day, the Trust manages on average 2,650 incidents.