£15 million recovered in birth injury claim against Homerton Hospital
Mark Bowman and Henry Kirwan were instructed by Francesca's parents shortly after her birth at Homerton Hospital in October 2018. The circumstances of the birth meant the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) reviewed the events and issued various criticisms of the care in the immediate lead up to the birth.
Criticisms included discharging the mother during her induction of labour and not providing suitable advice about warning signs and when to come back to hospital, nor ensuring a suitable handover to staff of her history when she came back to hospital.
More importantly, they also criticised that when equipment being used to monitor Francesca's heart rate during labour was not working, no alternatives were sought by staff, meaning an accurate assessment of Francesca's condition could not be made.
Francesca was born in a very poor condition and required resuscitation. She suffered from a short but near total lack of oxygen to her brain immediately before she was born causing a catastrophic brain injury.
Following receipt of the HSIB report, advice was obtained from medical experts who between them concluded that had proper monitoring of Francesca's heart rate been performed, there would have been significant warning signs that she was in distress and therefore an emergency Caesarean Section would have been performed to ensure she was born before she suffered any permanent damage.
A Letter of Claim was sent to Homerton Hospital's legal team in April 2020 and, after taking 12 months to respond, liability was admitted in full.
As Francesca was only 2 years old, more information is needed as she grows up as to what care and support she will need, to quantify her claim. With liability admitted, and Judgment entered in her favour, we secured her substantial interim payments to fund private therapies, case management support and to help her family move into a more suitable property to help care for her.
Now that Francesca is nearly 5 years old, it was possible to consider her long term needs. She is clearly a remarkable girl who suffered immeasurable damage due to the failings of the hospital.
She lives with dyskinetic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and will be a lifelong wheelchair user. She is non-verbal but communicates via eye pointing, facial expressions, vocalisations and body language. Eye-gaze technology revealed that her cognitive ability appears quite well preserved and that she has a very good sense of humour.
Expert assessments concluded that her life expectancy would be significantly curtailed, that she would require specialist single storey accommodation with 24/7 care and support as well as access to specialist therapies.
In February 2024, we agreed settlement for Francesca with the hospital, which was approved by the Court and will provide a 7-figure lump sum and annual payments for life to ensure that her care needs are fully met.
At the end of the claim, Francesca's mother said: "Through the most difficult event of our lives Mark and his team were enormously supportive and comforting. Mark set out the process clearly and was always willing to provide time for us when needed. We are very grateful for their expertise and hard work to get the settlement our daughter deserved."
Contact us
For further information about birth injury claims or medical negligence claims, please call Mark Bowman on 0330 460 6794 or email mark.bowman@fieldfisher.com or call Henry Kirwan on 0330 460 6766 or email henry.kirwan@fieldfisher.com.
Alternatively
- You can speak to our medical negligence lawyers on freephone 0800 358 3848
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