£17 million compensation secured for a child suffering cerebral palsy

Legal Director and Partner, Sahida Patel, from Minton Morrill; part of Fletchers Group, secured approximately £17 million for a child who suffers with cerebral palsy. 

 

The Incident 

Our client was born on 4 November 2006 and suffered grade 1 hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) resulting in permanent brain injury.  

It was proposed that there were failures by the midwife in: 

• Not properly examining our client’s mother. 
• Negligently performing an artificial rupture of membranes. 
• Failing to check the foetal heart rate regularly. 
• Failing to deal with a prolapsed umbilical cord which was unnecessarily compressed. 

It was also alleged there were delays before steps were taken to deliver which caused our client to suffer irreversible brain damage.  

 

The Case 

Our team obtained expert evidence in the fields of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Midwifery, Neuroradiology and Paediatric Neurology. From this it became apparent that the Midwifery and Obstetric care which our client and his mother had received was negligent and fell below reasonably acceptable standards. 

A Letter of Claim (setting out the allegations of sub-standard care) was served on the defendant Trust and liability was subsequently admitted. 

 

The Case Outcome 

Following the defendant’s admission of liability, the claim proceeded on a quantum only basis, where steps were taken to investigate the extent of our client’s current and future disabilities and their needs to assess how much compensation they should receive. 

We obtained expert evidence in the fields of: 

• Paediatric Neurology/paediatrics 

• Clinical Neuropsychology 
• Educational Psychology 
• Care/Case Management 
• Physiotherapy 
• Speech and Language 

• Occupational Therapy 
• Assistive Technology 
• Accommodation 
• Deputyship/Court of Protection 

A Trial to deal with the quantum issues was initially listed, however the claim successfully settled prior to this at a Joint Settlement Meeting with the defendant. 

On a capitalised basis, our client recovered approximately £17 million pounds in compensation. 

The financial settlement secured includes a lump sum payment and annual periodical payments to cover the cost of their life-long care and case management needs. The annual payments start at £140,000, increasing to £165,000 when they turn 18. 

Reflecting on the case Sahida said: “This was a fantastic result for my client and a great team effort from the experienced team here at Minton Morrill. The compensation will provide my client with financial security to allow his disability related needs to be met for the rest of his life.”