Hospitals in West Yorkshire effectively wrote off nearly £2.2m in losses in one year.
Almost £500,000 was lost by Leeds hospitals when operating theatre equipment became obsolete.
Meanwhile, around £275,000 was distributed in payouts to former staff of the Leeds and Mid Yorkshire hospitals trusts who had won employment tribunals.
Hospital bosses said it was impossible to avoid all unexpected losses or unplanned payments.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs St James’s Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary, recorded 370 cases of losses and special payments amounting to £1.2m between April 2010 and March 2011.
Leeds hospital bosses said that £469,440 of that was written off as obsolete theatre stock, an issue which came to light when a new stock management system was brought in. That identified equipment which was no longer usable.
The Leeds total also included £148,869 paid in damages following an employment tribunal case. Managers would not confirm details of the case to the YEP.
However in 2010 former employee Linda Sturdy won her case against the trust for age discrimination. She won a total of £187,000, £147,000 of which the tribunal awarded in 2010.
Another £86,527 was written off as a ‘fruitless payment’ for a software development which ‘did not succeed’.
A spokesman for Leeds Teaching Hospitals said: “As one of the very largest NHS trusts in the country with an annual budget of around a billion pounds we try extremely hard to get the best value out of every penny on behalf of our patients.
“Like every major public and private organisation, however, we are occasionally subject to unexpected losses or unplanned special payments on a one-off basis, despite every effort to avoid this happening.”
He said they were subject to rigorous auditing and measures were taken to prevent losses recurring.
Mid Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust, which runs hospitals in Wakefield, Pontefract and Dewsbury, recorded £942,987 in losses and special payments in 2010/11.
Two of the three biggest single amounts were both employment tribunal payouts, one of £100,000 and another of £25,000.
Another £60,000 was registered as a damages payment.
Chief operating officer Carole Langrick, said: “The incidents referred to took place over two years ago.
“We have since improved our system of financial controls to minimise similar incidents occurring in the future.”
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