October 14th, 2009
An NHS trust has been ordered to pay out £7.1 million in compensation to a boy who was left brain damaged due to errors surrounding his birth.
Harry Snowdon, now ten, was starved of oxygen after his delivery was delayed for four hours at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital in 1999.
His mother Debra had been given too much of a drug that causes labour and the baby was in distress in the birth canal, but a lack of monitoring led to the devastating errors and Harry was born with brain damage.
He now has no sense of danger and has violent mood swings, meaning that he will never be able to live independently.
This week, Mr Justice Holroyde ruled that the "negligence of the defendants’ medical and nursing staff in the management of his birth" led to his disabilities.
Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust admitted liability and has now agreed to a £7.1 million compensation payout.
"We are relieved the settlement has eventually been agreed and we will not have to worry about what will happen to him when we are no longer around," said Ms Snowdon.
According to the Centre for Neuro Skills, over 1,000 children die or suffer permanent brain injury every year in the UK because of shortage of oxygen around the time of birth.
Tags: 1 Million, 1m, Birth Canal, Brain Damage, Brain Injury, Disabilities, John Radcliffe Hospital, Labour, Left Brain, Mr Justice, Negligence, Neuro Skills, Nhs Trust, Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals, Oxygen, Sense Of Danger, Snowdon, Time Of Birth, Violent Mood Swings
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September 9th, 2009
A recycling worker from Wiltshire is in line for a seven-figure compensation payment after a botched neck operation left him severely disabled.
Michael Hart underwent surgery to remove a compressed disc at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford in September 2008, in what should have been a routine procedure.
However, an error by surgeons led to complications which caused irreversible damage to Mr Hart’s spinal cord.
As a result, he is now confined to a wheelchair, with only limited movement in his hands.
Following his release from hospital in April this year, he began a medical negligence claim against Oxford Radcliffe Hospital NHS Trust, which has now admitted full liability for the mistake made by its staff.
A compensation figure is still to be agreed, but it is almost certain to be more than £1 million, as it will take into account loss of earnings and the cost of long-term care for Mr Hart.
The news comes after the NHS Litigation Authority’s annual report revealed the health service spent £807 million to settle compensation claims in the 2008-09 financial year.
Tags: Compensation Claims, Compensation Payment, Health Service, Hospital Nhs Trust, Irreversible Damage, John Radcliffe Hospital, Litigation, Long Term Care, Loss Of Earnings, Medical Negligence Claim, Michael Hart, Nhs Litigation Authority, Oxford Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford Radcliffe Hospital Nhs Trust, Recycling, Routine Procedure, Spinal Cord, Wheelchair, Wiltshire
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June 19th, 2009
A woman has pledged to seek compensation from two NHS trusts after her daughter died in hospital from meningitis.
Shazia Ahmed, a 25-year-old mother of one, had already called out-of-hours GP services twice in February when she began to feel unwell with a rash and terrible sickness.
However, the medics refused a home visit and when Ms Ahmed’s symptoms began to worsen, her mother Lorraine Lewis took her to A&E at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital.
Despite this, her meningitis was not diagnosed for a further 15 hours, by which time it was too late to treat her.
The victim died five days later and Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust and Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust have since apologised for the failings in her care.
The trusts admitted that had Ms Ahmed been diagnosed earlier, a "different outcome" might have been reached.
Ms Lewis said: "What we got was a shoddy service which probably killed my daughter." In an interview with the Oxford Mail, she added: "I’m going to sue. I’ve been to see my solicitor."
Tags: Amp, Apologised, Gp Services, John Radcliffe Hospital, Lorraine Lewis, Medics, Meningitis, Nhs Trusts, Old Mother, Oxford Mail, Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals, Oxfordshire, Primary Care Trust, Quot, Rash, Shazia, Shoddy Service, Solicitor, Woman
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January 7th, 2009
The remaining members of a family touched by tragedy due to hospital negligence have been paid compensation for their loss.
Bethany Bowen, five, was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, for a routine operation on her spleen in July 2006.
However, unbeknown to her parents Claire and Richard, the surgeon performing the operation was a trainee and the team had decided to use an untested piece of equipment on the child, the Daily Mail reports.
Bethany died on the operating table from a ruptured aorta. Tragically, due to stress, her father died of a heart attack 19 months later.
Claire Bowen launched legal action against the hospital, claiming: "If it hadn’t been for the arrogance of the surgeons involved, Bethany would still be alive."
The trust responsible for the hospital recently admitted clinical negligence and has now paid Claire and her two young sons £10,000 as an acknowledgement of their loss.
John Radcliffe Hospital is Oxfordshire’s main accident and emergency site and is the largest of the trust’s hospitals.
Tags: 19 Months, Accident And Emergency, Acknowledgement, Arrogance, Bowen, Clinical Negligence, Daily Mail, Heart Attack, Hospital Negligence, John Radcliffe Hospital, John Radcliffe Hospital Oxford, Mail Reports, Oxfordshire, Quot, Radcliffe Hospital Oxford, Routine Operation, Ruptured Aorta, Spleen, Tragedy
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July 28th, 2008
A young boy who was left with permanent brain damage due to hospital negligence during his birth has received damages of £5.5 million.
Luke Parsons has subsequently been diagnosed with Dyskinetic Athetoid Cerebral Palsy after he was starved of oxygen as a result of negligence in the management of his mother’s labour at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital, reports the BBC.
In addition to £2.1 million for admitted liability, he will also receive annual payments of up to £120,000 for the rest of his life.
Luke’s parents said in a statement: "Although the money seems a huge amount it will be needed to give Luke the security and support that he will require for the rest of his life."
Helen Niebuhr, the solicitor who represented the Parsons family, said that the purpose of the award was to try and enable Luke to live the kind of life he would have enjoyed.
Tags: 1 Million, 5 Million, Athetoid Cerebral Palsy, Bbc, Brain Damage, Cerebral Palsy, Damages, Hospital Negligence, John Radcliffe Hospital, Labour, Life Quot, Money, Niebuhr, Oxford, Oxygen, Parents, Parsons Family, Solicitor, Wins
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