Nearly $70 million was paid out by ACC last year for medical mishaps.

Figures obtained under the Official Information Act show there were more than 6500 claims for treatment injuries in 2018.

ACC treatment injury manager Dr Nick Kendall says the blame can't be squarely laid at the feet of surgeons, but could be the result of a string of errors.

He told Mike Hosking there are instances where the wrong hip was operated on, which means there's a communication breakdown somewhere along the line.

ACC paid out more than $14.5 million dollars to patients who were treated at Auckland DHB.