Teenager secures £4 million for clinical negligence

Posted 02/09/2010

A teenager who was starved of oxygen at birth and developed cerebral palsy has been awarded a £4 million clinical negligence compensation settlement.

The 18-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was delivered at Rochford Hospital in Essex, in September 1992.

However, due to mistakes and mismanagement by staff, she was left permanently brain damaged and now cannot walk or speak, as well as having significant learning disabilities.

Her parents sued Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in order to receive compensation to cover a lifetime of care needs, including a specially-adapted home.

Now, the trust has agreed to a lump sum payout of £1.6 million for the youngster, together with annual payments of between £140,000 and £175,000.

A judge approved the settlement and thanked the organisation for dealing with the case with “speed, good sense and great sensitivity”.

Figures from the Centre for Neuro Skills state that more than 1,000 children are affected by a shortage of oxygen around the time of their birth and consequently suffer brain damage or even die.

Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp, who heads Ashtons Legal’s medical injury team, comments: “It is good to see a trust responding in this way to a claim that, like others involving similar damage, conceals the real human devastation not just for the victim but the family. Money can never really compensate for brain damage of this kind but it can help to provide a much better quality of life for all concerned.”