Nearly £700k paid by Leeds NHS trust over injury claims for slips, assaults and workplace stress by staff
The trust has apologised and said it places “a high level of importance on protecting the health, safety and welfare”
Nearly £700,000 has been paid out to hospital staff in Leeds from injury claims made in the last five years.
Over £3.1 million has been paid out in direct damages to injured healthcare workers by NHS trusts across West Yorkshire, while the national bill exceeds £190m.
Data from the Liability to Third Parties Scheme (LTPS) - the NHS staff insurance pool - reveals that between 2020/21 and 2024/25, thousands of workers successfully sued their employers after being left injured, assaulted, or traumatised by events in the workplace.
The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust stumped up £670,899 after receiving 126 claims - the ninth-highest number received by an NHS trust in England over the designated timeframe.
The trust apologised to those colleagues that were injured at work and said it is “committed to fostering a culture of safety within our organisation”.
Elsewhere, Leeds & York Partnerships - which provides mental health and learning disability care - handed out £187,748 to claimants, with a five-year total of 21 claims received, and Leeds Community Healthcare handed out £100,565 to claimants, from a five-year total of eight claims.
The figures, obtained via Freedom of Information requests to NHS Resolution by Accident Claims Advice, expose the physical risks faced by healthcare workers.
In West Yorkshire, Leeds Teaching Hospitals is followed by Bradford Teaching Hospitals for the highest total pay-outs at £347,107, with 69 claims received, and Mid Yorkshire Teaching, which paid out £341,973 after receiving 73 claims.
Ranking slightly lower in pay-outs, Bradford District Care shelled out a total of £193,591 after receiving 28 claims, and Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust paid £167,948, having received 38 claims; while Airedale NHS Foundation Trust paid £110, 643, after receiving 12 claims.
That comes to a total of £3,170,937 paid out in damages across the West Yorkshire region between 2020/21 and 2024/25.
Yorkshire Ambulance Service, which covers the majority of Yorkshire, paid out £1,383,040 after receiving 120 claims - placing it 11th nationally for both the size of the pay-out and the number of claims received.
‘Uphold the highest safety standards’
Dr Magnus Harrison, Chief Medical Officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “I apologise to our colleagues who have been injured at work. We place a high level of importance on protecting the health, safety and welfare of our colleagues but unfortunately there are occasions when our safety measures have not been sufficient.
“Whenever an incident occurs, we conduct a timely and thorough investigation so that we can learn from it and improve our protocols.
“The number of claims we receive each year remains low compared to the total workforce we employ. We are committed to fostering a culture of safety within our organisation and will continue to work diligently to uphold the highest safety standards.”
The national picture
The figures, as of April 2026, show that the NHS has handed out £98.97 million in direct damages to injured employees across successfully settled claims in England.
The total financial hit to the taxpayer is vastly higher than direct payouts alone, however, as settled claims where staff won compensation saw £86.56 million spent purely on legal fees.
This breaks down to £19.12 million covering the NHS’s own legal defence costs and £67.44 million covering the claimants' legal costs.
Meanwhile, fees racked up by successfully-defended claims cost £5.26m for the NHS, with £144,055 going towards claimants’ legal costs.
This brings the grand total paid out across England to £190,935,714 between 2020/21 and 2024/25, a figure that could yet increase as more claims are closed.
The most expensive workplace hazards facing NHS staff
The majority of successful staff compensation costs stem from a trio of workplace dangers.
Slips and trips are the leading cause of staff injury, accounting for 1,763 successful claims submitted over the five-year timeframe. These incidents cost the NHS £25,771,768 in damages alone.
Meanwhile, 1,021 successful claims lodged by staff members who were victims of assault in the workplace saw a total damages pay-out of £18,105,467.
Workplace-related mental health issues also proved incredibly costly to settle, as claims for stress cost the NHS £8,844,569 in damages across the period.