NHS Trust Admit Negligence in Cerebral Palsy Case

Gemma was the second of twins born by caesarean section and she suffered severe brain damage. She did not receive enough oxygen during the delivery and this caused her cerebral palsy. Gemma cannot do anything for herself and has to rely on her family. Gemma’s parents sought advice from another firm of solicitors but were told that the case would not succeed. Luckily, many years later, another client of ours recommended Barratts so they got in touch. We looked at their situation and we agreed to reopen the case in 2007.

We applied for Legal Aid and the experts agreed that Gemma should have been delivered earlier. They also agreed that, if that had happened, she would not have suffered brain damage.

We sent a letter to the Defendant Trust who subsequently admitted liability in full. This means that Gemma will recover significant compensation to provide for her care and physical needs for the rest of her life. This will greatly improve Gemma’s quality of life.

NHS admits negligence

It is unusual for the NHS to admit liability before court proceedings have started. The good news is that admitting liability has saved significant costs that would otherwise have been incurred. It also ensures the family can receive interim payments to help them with Gemma’s cerebral palsy until the case concludes. This is particularly important because they had already suffered delays with previous solicitors.

Without Legal Aid to fund this case, Gemma’s parents would not have been able to investigate the claim or recover significant compensation for their daughter. It is because of their perseverance that Gemma’s future will be financially secure. If they had accepted the advice of previous solicitors and not come to Barratts for another opinion, they would not have secured much needed compensation for Gemma.