Compensation pay-outs for failures in care in Scotland’s NHS have quadrupled in a year and are at their highest since the 2014 independence referendum in news likely to heap pressure on Humza Yousaf.
The Scottish Government’s most recent publication of their consolidated accounts states a total of £67.77m was paid out in the most serious cases of clinical negligence or breaches of the duty of care within the NHS, with the number of cases jumping by 10 to 35 overall.
The total payout is more than the four years prior combined, and the highest figure since Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister in 2014.
The numbers will increase pressure on the health secretary, Humza Yousaf, who is facing calls to resign from both Scottish Labour and the Scottish Conservatives over the crisis facing Scotland’s health service following the Covid-19 pandemic.