Little girl wins compensation from NHS for brain damage

14:46:00 Monday 12th January 2009

A NHS Trust has agreed to pay million of pounds in compensation to an eight-year-old girl who was left with severe disabilities and brain damage as a result of being starved of oxygen during her birth.

The girl was born at King George Hospital in Goodmayes in January 2000 and has developed cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia as a result of being asphyxiated during her birth. This could have been prevented if she has been born earlier and by caesarian section, claims her mother.

The NHS trust has admitted liability for the girl's injuries and will pay a lump sum and annual index-based payment to cover the cost of her care for the rest of her life. The decision to make the payment replaced initial plans to question the value of the compensation at a hearing at the High Court.

The trust is intending to investigate the incident in an attempt to reduce the number of compensation payments it is making. Some £16 million in compensation has paid out by the trust over the past three years. A spokesperson said, “obviously the money cannot repair the damage done, but we need to find out how this happened.”

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