The 43-year-old, who needs round-the- clock care and is unable to ever work again after the medical blunders eight years ago, took her GP and two hospital trusts to court, winning £4m.
David Stout, acting chief executive of NHS North East, said: “The safety of patients – and staff – is the number one priority for the health service across the North East.
“We have a strong track record of providing safe and effective services in our hospitals with systems designed to minimise risk. We work with all NHS North East organisations to make sure we learn from all incidents – big or small – so the likelihood of them happening again can be reduced.
“Patients deserve the highest quality healthcare – and it is important to remember that the vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of people treated in this area every year experience good quality, safe and effective care.
“But if patients do not receive the treatment they expect and deserve and mistakes are made, then it is right that they are appropriately compensated.”
The amount paid out on agency staff was also topped by Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at £44m, followed by County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, with £6.9m and City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust (£3m).
Former Newcastle city council leader Jeremy Beecham has called for a report to the Health and Adult Services Scrutiny Committee about Newcastle Hospital’s spending on agency staff as its amount is only eclipsed by trusts in London.
Lord Beecham said: “We do not understand why this amount of money is being spent on agency staff and we feel it is important to have an explanation.
“We are not the only city with a big hospital trust outside of London – questions need to be asked and answered.”
A Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said: “The proportion of costs associated with locum and agency spend represents approximately 2% of the total pay bill.
“The trust only uses agencies which have been authorised as part of the NHS National Framework and who are compliant with the NHS pre-employment checks.
“It also has its own ‘bank’ for nursing and medical locum staff which does not incur agency fees. The trust continues to take steps to reduce temporary and agency staffs spend across the organisation, and actively recruit staff to permanent posts.”
