COMPENSATION worth nearly £1.5 million has been shelled out out to settle claims made against Inverclyde Royal Hospital.

The Telegraph can reveal how much NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) health board has had to stump up for everything from slips and trips to negligence and botched procedures.

Data obtained using freedom of information laws shows that in the last five years, just over £1.4m was paid out in compensation.

A total of 51 successful claims were made against IRH.

Almost £1.2m of the total compensation figure was paid out in 2016 alone, to settle just seven cases.

Health bosses say the size of the bill is down to the sheer number of cases they deal with and the number of claims has remained steady.

A spokeswoman for NHS GGC said: "We have more than one million patient contacts annually but, regrettably, a small number of these don't go as intended.

"The value of the individual claims settled drives the total figure each year and this will fluctuate from year-to-year including at Inverclyde Royal Hospital.

"The number of claims made against NHS GGC has not changed significantly in recent years but these figures do reflect a trend towards increasingly larger settlement amounts."

During the course of the five-year period - between 2014-18 - 107 claims were lodged against the health board relating to IRH.

Of those, 64 were clinical complaints, with the remaining 43 classed as non-clinical.

Fifty-one claims in total resulted in payouts, with the rest either dropped, rejected or still under investigation.

Last year saw the highest number of settlements - 16 - at a cost of £38,000, up from a low of five in 2014 which cost just under £70,000.

According to the health board, there are around 140,000 patient 'episodes' annually at the hospital, which is around 700,000 visits over the period.

Officials pointed out that the dates when cases are lodged and settled differs, which could have a bearing on the yearly figures.

They also highlighted that they are 'reimbursed' through the Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnity Scheme (CNORIS) - managed by NHS National Services Scotland - and the information 'does not reflect the actual cost to the board'.

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COMPENSATION CLAIMS SETTLED (clinical and non-clinical)

2014: 5 = £69,635

2015: 9 = £104,900

2016: 7 = £1,151,750

2017: 14 = £77,750

2018: 16 = £38,000

Total: 51 = £1,442,035