May 11th, 2009
A child who was left with cerebral palsy after hospital staff failed to deliver her quickly enough has been awarded millions of pounds in compensation.
Elise Frith, now six, was born at Milton Keynes Hospital, but although her mother Yelena had been suffering from abdominal pains, an emergency Caesarean was not performed until more than two hours after a problem was detected.
The child was deprived of oxygen and now has mobility and communication problems as a result of her cerebral palsy, Milton Keynes Today reports.
Milton Keynes Hospital admitted that its staff had been negligent in not taking Ms Frith in for surgery sooner and this week approved a compensation payout that, although confidential, is believed to amount to millions of pounds.
According to the charity Scope, one in every 400 children in the UK is born with cerebral palsy.
This is most commonly the result of failure of a part of the brain to develop and can be caused by a lack of oxygen in the womb, as was the case here.
Tags: Abdominal Pains, Cerebral Palsy, Charity, Communication Problems, Failure, Frith, Hospital Staff, Lack Of Oxygen, Milton Hospital, Milton Keynes, Part Of The Brain, Scope, Womb, Yelena
Posted in Clinical Negligence News | No Comments »
April 23rd, 2009
An NHS trust has awarded compensation of £6.3 million to the parents of a girl who was left brain damaged due to mistakes at her birth.
Ellie Matraves was born clinically dead at Lister Hospital in Herfordshire in 2002 because medical staff had not noticed that she was showing signs of distress, the high court heard.
She had to be aggressively resuscitated for several hours and developed cerebral palsy, leaving her with communication problems and a reduced developmental age, the BBC reports.
Her parents Claire and Colin Matraves took legal action against the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust for clinical negligence.
"We feel it is important for people to understand that if it hadn’t been for the hospital’s appalling negligence, our daughter would have been born a healthy non-disabled baby girl," they said in a statement.
The trust admitted liability and has agreed to a £2.4 million lump sum payout, as well as annual payments to cover care for the rest of Ellie’s life.
According to Scope, one in 400 children in the UK suffers from cerebral palsy. Around ten per cent of cerebral palsy compensation claims are due to complications at birth.
Tags: 3m, Baby Girl, Bbc, Brain, Cerebral Palsy, Clinical Negligence, Communication Problems, Compensation Claims, Ellie, Herfordshire, Lump Sum Payout, Medical Staff, Nhs Trust, North Hertfordshire, Parents, People, Scope, Signs
Posted in Clinical Negligence News | No Comments »
October 8th, 2008
A young woman who was seriously hurt in a car crash is to sue the man who was driving the car.
Stephanie Stratton, now 21, was a passenger in the Honda Civic being driven by Adam Roberts of Campbell Crescent in 2006.
However, he lost control of the vehicle after pulling the handbrake at 55 miles per hour, the East Grinstead Observer reports.
The car overturned and Ms Stratton suffered facial injuries and fractures.
She had to have brain surgery and a titanium plate implanted into her skull. She is also nearly blind and has epilepsy.
Since the accident, Ms Stratton needs supervision as she still has cognitive and communication problems.
Through her father Anthony, Ms Stratton is now suing Mr Roberts for an unspecified sum of compensation.
A common misconception when it comes to claiming compensation after an accident is that a person who was in the car that caused the accident cannot make a claim for injuries suffered.
This is untrue, as long as the person making the claim was not the one behind the wheel at the time of the accident.
It is perfectly legitimate to claim against the driver, as it is their responsibility to drive safely.
Tags: Adam Roberts, Brain Surgery, Car Crash, Claiming Compensation, Common Misconception, Communication Problems, Crescent, East Grinstead Observer, Epilepsy, Facial Injuries, Fractures, Handbrake, Honda, Honda Civic, Miles Per Hour, Skull, Stephanie, Stratton, Titanium Plate, Young Woman
Posted in Personal Injury News | No Comments »
