The amount paid out on medical negligence claims against the health department has fallen dramatically over the last five years.

But figures released following a Freedom of Information request from a member of the public show that settlements and damages totalling almost a million pounds have been paid since 2012.

However, the amounts have fallen sharply, from £669,437 in 2012-13, to £222,500 in 2013-14, and to £66,989 the following year. The total paid out was £11,000 in 2015-16 but the amount was zero in 2016-17.

The Department of Health said it could not give a breakdown of those amounts between damages and costs on an individual basis as this would breach data protection rules.

But it gave a figure for how much in total had been paid out in legal costs. The figure was £238,764 in 2012-13, rising to £466,564 the following year and up again to £449,856 in 2014-15. The total paid out in costs fell in 2015-16 to £231,245 and last year the figure was just £16,089.

In its FoI response, the Department of Health and Social Care explained that Manx government self-insures the department in respect to claims of medical negligence made against it.

Figures dating back to 2007 had been requested but the DHSC said FoI requests can only be made for information created on or before October 2011.