The UK paper cited campaigners familiar with the estimates as saying that UK health authorities have failed to learn from their mistakes, noting that a quarter of payouts came from situations resulting in what the Times termed "basic error."
Campaigners named disagreements between doctors and midwives, and the health authority’s push to increase the percentage of "natural births" using minimal medical assistance as two primary causes behind the worsening statistics.
Some newborns became brain damaged while in NHS care after medical personnel failed to properly monitor their heartbeat, leaving babies starved for oxygen, the Times said. Last year, the health service paid almost 300 million pounds (over $400 million) to parents who must provide round the clock care for children in a vegetative state.
The poor condition of the NHS came to the fore in the run-up to the May 7 UK general elections. Prime Minister David Cameron's ruling Tory party came under fire for allowing national healthcare to slip below legislated standards amid enormous budget cuts.
