TODAY we reveal that compensation claims against our local hospitals are on the rise.

Bosses at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust tell us more and more people are taking legal action against them.

As a result, the Trust is having to spend somewhere in the region of £4.5million on insurance-style premiums to protect itself against claims. That's the equivalent of hiring 100 extra nurses.

The rise is largely because last year £2.6million was paid out as a result of legal action against the hospitals. Yet just three years ago the hospitals were paying around £765,000 a year.

Ironically, the Trust has been struggling to get rid of a £4million deficit - less than the amount of money it has to find because of compensation claims.

Experts say it's lamentable that money is being taken away which could have been spent on improving already-stretched services. They have criticised our "compensation culture" for putting our health services under pressure.

Lawyers, however, believe people aren't looking for a quick payday - they say people are simply more aware of the action they can take if things go wrong.

We don't doubt that people have genuine claims which have been made when genuine mistakes have been made - errors which may have had far-reaching consequences and lessened a patient's quality of life.

But the fact that more than a quarter of a million pounds paid out last year was because of "falls", suggests not all claims land in this bracket.

And it is galling that doctors and nurses are now forced to work in a culture where the threat of litigation hangs over them. Especially when they have dedicated their life's work to helping other people.