NHS Scotland has paid out more than £350m in medical negligence claims over the past decade.

Payouts each year from the health service for both historical and non-historical failings have risen fourfold since 2007.

Research from the BBC's shared data unit revealed that while the cost of medical failings was just £9.4m in 2006/07, it had risen to £38.3m by 2016/17.

Scotland's health service doled out £353m to claimants between 2007/08 and 2016/17, with almost £200m paid out in the last five years.

The Scottish Government said that the country had "one of the most transparent healthcare systems in the world", adding that the health service learned from occasions "where standards fall short".

NHS Scotland did not specifically provide data relating to historical failings, but a recent report said that of payouts in 2016/17, "the majority related to claims settled more than five years after the incident occurred, with some settlements taking considerably longer".

Only 14 of the 424 settled claims last year related to incidents that happened after April 2014, and £4.5m was paid out for claims tracing back to before 1998.

Some cases, such as maternity claims, can take "many years to conclude", the report added, although maternity payouts have fallen markedly as a proportion of the overall figure in the past decade.

In 2007/08, maternity claims were responsible for 80% of all payouts but as of least year they made up just 39% of the total.

Professor Jason Leitch, Scotland's national clinical director, said: "Scotland has one of the most transparent healthcare systems in the world and our NHS learns constantly from care experiences that go well and those where standards fall short.

"Particularly, in rare case of clinical negligence, boards and care professionals must learn from these situations and make improvements."

The biggest bill faced NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC), which has paid out £53.5m since 2012/13.

The health board attributed that to representing a third of Scotland's population and the range of patient activities and services it provided.

A spokeswoman said: "We deliver many regional and national services for the west of Scotland and Scotland as a whole including the national spinal injuries unit, neurosurgery, burns unit, regional cancer services and children's services.

"Therefore, while the largest number of claims are in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, this is proportionately within balance nationally."