One fifth of maternity budget now spent on blunders

Related Articles Maternity wards closure crisis 15 Jun 2013 New mothers are being used as cash cows 16 Jun 2013 Margaret Hodge, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee urged ministers to “buck up” and take responsibility for failings in services. She said: “I find it absolutely scandalous that one fifth of all funding for maternity services, equivalent to around £700 per birth, is spent on clinical negligence cover. The current system is not working as it should.” The report found “wide unexplained variation” in complication rates, with some hospitals readmitting three times as many women as an emergency after having a baby, compared with others....