£22.5 million for baby who suffered seizures after poor feeding advice
Jane Weakley and Gemma Wells secured £22.5 million for a young boy with severe cognitive difficulties caused by neonatal hypoglycaemia after maternity staff failed to provide competent feeding advice to his mother.
Baby O was born at Wexham Park Hospital, run by Frimley Health NHS Trust, in a fit and healthy state. On discharge, he was feeding well, but the breastfeeding chart was not completed by midwives. No one discussed feeding with his mother or advised her to ensure he fed at least every 8 hours.
The following day he was very lethargic, did not feed well and developed jerky movements. A community midwife visited the family home that afternoon and referred the baby and his mother back to hospital that day. There was no urgency in her recommendation, and she told a clinician she was not worried about O's condition.
He had not fed for more than 14 hours by the time he was assessed at Wexham Park Hospital that afternoon and hypoglycaemia was diagnosed. After the diagnosis, medical staff failed to implement prompt or appropriate treatment and unfortunately O continued to have seizures and suffered a brain injury.
Now primary school age, O has severe cognitive and behavioural difficulties, speech and language delay, and mobility issues. He also has epilepsy, which is managed with medication. His behaviour is extremely unpredictable, with violent outbursts, and he has no sense of danger. Due to his complex needs he requires 2 to 1 care.
His parents instructed Fieldfisher in a medical negligence claim against the Trust on their son's behalf, and a limited admission of liability was eventually secured. Following a Round Table Meeting, the Trust's lawyers made a settlement offer at 85%, which was approved by the Court.
O lacks capacity due to his age and experts who gave evidence in the claim say it is very likely he will lack capacity for all his life. He has a long life expectancy and will never be able to be employed in paid work.
It was a complex claim due to O's severe needs, but Jane and Gemma managed to settle it at RTM. They secured damages of £22.5 million on behalf of O, which will secure his future and provide for the expert care he needs.
O received a lump sum of £6.5 million, which will enable the family to move into new accommodation that is more suitable for his care needs and secure a place for him in a specialist school. He will receive £215,000 annually until he is 18 and £293,000 each year thereafter for his very high care costs. Anna Bond and Abigail Reeve in Fieldfisher's Court of Protection department are managing the deputyship so the funds will always be protected and used in O's best interests.
After the settlement O's parents said: "The journey with Fieldfisher securing the future and extra care needed for O started and became a reality after several searches for a solid firm with years of experience to act on behalf of our son. We then stumbled across an article detailing a medical negligence settlement very similar to our son's situation.
"I quickly reached out to Jane by calling and didn't think much of it and the rest as they say is history. Jane came out to do an assessment and then instructed her to represent the family.
"The extra care required for O both now and in the future is not something we as parents would have been able to provide both physically and emotionally even if we were to go to the Local authority for support. Jane, Gemma and the Fieldfisher team have significantly changed O's life for ever as 24hr care is required.
"It also gives us peace and rest, even if we are not going to be around in the future, that the OPG/court of protection will always be there to always act on behalf of O's best interest, especially as he gets older."
Contact us
For further information about midwife negligence claims or medical negligence claims please call Jane Weakley on 0330 460 6773 or email jane.weakley@fieldfisher.com or call Gemma Wells on 0330 460 6549 or email gemma.wells@fieldfisher.com.
Alternatively
- You can speak to our medical negligence solicitors on freephone 0800 358 3848
- email us: personalinjury@fieldfisher.com
- Complete the short online enquiry form
All enquiries are completely free of charge and we will investigate all funding options for you including no win no fee.
