Every year, NHS Resolution — the arm's-length body that handles clinical negligence claims against NHS bodies in England — publishes figures on how many claims it received, how much it paid out, and how those claims were resolved. This page summarises the most recently published figures, with sources, so you can see the real scale of clinical negligence claims in England rather than relying on estimates.
Nothing here is legal advice, and none of these figures say anything about the merits of any individual case. They're published for context: if you're wondering whether pursuing a claim is a normal, well-established thing to do, the answer — at over 15,000 new claims a year — is clearly yes.
How many clinical negligence claims does the NHS receive each year?
NHS Resolution received 15,236 new clinical negligence claims and reported incidents in 2025/26, according to its Annual Report and Accounts published in July 2026. That's a 5.6% increase on the 14,428 received the previous year (2024/25).
How much does the NHS pay out in clinical negligence claims?
NHS Resolution made payments of £3.2385 billion across its clinical negligence schemes in 2025/26 — an increase of roughly £150 million on the £3.08 billion paid the year before. This figure covers compensation, claimant legal costs, and NHS Resolution's own defence costs combined.
What proportion of claims go to court?
A record 84% of clinical negligence claims were resolved without the need for formal legal proceedings in 2025/26. In practice, this means the great majority of claims are settled through the Pre-Action Protocol process — records requested, expert evidence exchanged, and a settlement negotiated — without ever reaching a courtroom. Contested trials remain the exception, not the rule.
How much does the NHS expect to pay for claims already made?
As at 31 March 2025, NHS Resolution's provision for known future clinical negligence liabilities — the estimated cost of settling claims already notified but not yet resolved — stood at £60.3 billion. This is an accounting provision, not cash held aside, and reflects the long-tail nature of clinical negligence claims: serious birth injury and brain injury cases in particular can take years to reach a final settlement once lifetime care costs are properly assessed.
Does a rising number of claims mean claims are getting harder to win?
No — these are two separate things. The volume and cost figures reflect how much avoidable harm NHS Resolution's own data shows is happening across NHS care each year, not a change in the legal tests a claimant has to meet. The tests for medical negligence — duty of care, breach of duty, causation and damage — are set by case law and have not changed. NHS Resolution's own figures simply confirm that clinical negligence claims are a normal, high-volume, well-established part of how the NHS is held accountable for care that falls below standard.
What does this mean if you're considering a claim?
If you believe you or a family member have been harmed by substandard NHS or private care, these figures should tell you one thing clearly: you would not be doing anything unusual by making a claim. Over 15,000 people did so last year alone, and 84% of them reached a resolution without ever going near a courtroom.
If what happened to you sounds like it might meet the legal tests, use the free eligibility checker or get in touch to describe what happened — Edward & Amaury Solicitors handles medical negligence claims directly, with no obligation to proceed.
Sources and further reading
- NHS Resolution Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 — the primary source for all figures on this page.
- NHS Resolution — "NHS Resolution delivers record early resolution of claims as new strategy shows impact" — press release confirming the 84% early-resolution figure.
- NHS Resolution — Annual statistics — underlying spreadsheet data.