HEALTH bosses have rejected a deal to settle 10 negligence claims against the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General hospitals.

A solicitors’ firm that was involved in investigating the Mid Staffs hospital scandal said East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT) has pulled out of talks aimed at avoiding costly court action.

The decision could cost the NHS an extra £500,000 in legal fees, the firm claimed.

The trust has said it is unable to make any further comment while legal proceedings are taking place.

There has been a spike in clinical negligence claims against the trust since February last year, when Sir Bruce Keogh announced a major investigation into its higher than expected ‘death rates’.

The probe resulted in the hospitals being placed in special measures, which were lifted in July after some key improvements were made.

Human rights solicitor Emma Jones, of London-based firm Leigh Day, who settled 120 legal claims relating to abuse and poor care at Stafford Hospital, said: “We are investigating 10 cases of general poor care (at ELHT), which we believe include some of the issues seen at Mid Staffordshire.

“We approached the trust to try and deal with the cases quickly and cheaply and it did seem to be engaging, but now it has said, no, each one has to be considered on its own merits. We are finishing our investigations and now have no other option than to start legal proceedings.”

She said it was generally ‘much less stressful for the client and far cheaper for the trust’ to settle cases at an early stage. Although any damages awarded to the claimant would remain the same if the case was taken to court, she said NHS legal costs could rise from £8,000 to about £50,000 per case.

Ms Jones said she had been in discussions with ELHT’s own legal team, before the trust passed files to the NHS Litigation Authority, to which it paid an annual contribution of £7.3 million in 2012/13.

The cases include that of Darwen pensioner Donald Barlow, whose family have accused ELHT of ‘appalling care’ over a nine-week period last year.

As previously reported, daughter Dawn Shilson, 44, believes his death could have been avoided if crucial procedures had not been cancelled several times.

Another case relates to Joan Kinlin, an 81-year-old from Burnley who died at the Royal Blackburn Hospital in 2011.

The Health Service Ombudsman recently forced the trust to apologise for four ‘service failures’ relating to her care, although the failures were not found to have contributed to her death.

Christine Pearson, chief nurse at ELHT, said the trust ‘investigates all legal claims thoroughly and makes decisions only after receiving the appropriate advice from legal and clinical professionals’, but she could not comment on the 10 cases.

Russ McLean, chairman of Pennine Lancashire Patient Voices Group, said: “I can understand why the trust doesn’t want to give solicitors carte-blanche, but the sad reality is that when things go through court, it costs a lot more money.”

The statement from Mrs Pearson added: “ELHT has received a number of claims from Leigh Day & Company Solicitors which have been referred to the NHS Litigation Authority “Leigh Day & Co and the NHSLA are investigating these claims as appropriate.”