A High Court judge had moving words of sympathy for the parents of a six-year-old girl who was delivered severely disabled following complications during her birth as he paved the way for her to receive a multi-million-pound NHS compensation package.
The little girl was starved of oxygen during the last few minutes of her mother’s labour at Kingston Hospital in 2007, resulting in brain damage and cerebral palsy which will leave her dependent on the care of others for the rest of her life.
Through her father, she sued the Kingston Hospital NHS Trust, claiming that her delivery had been negligently delayed. Following negotiations between the parties, the Trust agreed to settle liability issues in the case on the basis that the girl will receive 85 per cent of the full value of her claim. The amount of her award had yet to be assessed but was bound to run into millions of pounds over her lifetime.
The girl’s parents wept as the judge approved the compromise. Speaking directly to the couple, he said, “As someone who has chased down a hospital corridor after his wife on the way to an emergency procedure during childbirth, I feel very, very deeply for your ordeal.
“I am so sorry that this tragedy has overcome you and, if I may say so from my perspective, I am so impressed by all that you are doing for your daughter. This marks the end of the first battle, so to speak, where an agreement has been worked out amicably.”
The judge said he hoped a final settlement of the case would swiftly be reached so that the parents could ‘draw a line’ under the proceedings in the knowledge that their daughter’s future would be financially secure. Lawyers representing the NHS Trust praised the couple for the marvellous support they had given their daughter, who was making good progress.