Birth injury news
27/01/2012

NHS face multi-million pound payout for hospital negligence

A boy from Hertfordshire who was left disabled due to hospital blunders during his birth has been awarded a multi-million pound sum of birth injury compensation.

The boy, who is now seven years old, had been born at the Watford General Hospital in 2004, however due to delays during the labour he has been left with severe personal injuries.

The family of the young boy launched a claim for birth injury compensation against the West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust. They claim that the medical negligence of staff and delays during his delivery led to his brain being starved of oxygen which caused him to be born with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy.

As a result of his birth injury the boy is confined to a wheelchair and can only communicate by moving his eyes.

London's High Court heard that the NHS Trust had admitted to a breach in its duty of care but disputed that this had led to the young boy's serious condition.

Lawyers for the Trust have since conceded to pay out 85% of the value of birth injury compensation which is likely to run into millions of pounds due to the level of care the boy will require for the rest of his life.