The claim was bought for bereavement damages as a result of Mary (whose name has been changed), who was born on the 14th September 2006. She suffered with Downs Syndrome and Wests Syndrome and regularly attended New Cross Hospital due to a wheezy chest which was aggravated by her epilepsy.
Following a particularly bad bout of fitting and high temperature, Mary was admitted to New Cross Hospital and then transferred to Leicester Hospital for a period of 10 days, where she was put on a ventilator.
She was then transferred back to New Cross Hospital, where they gave her anti-seizure medication through a drip. Unfortunately, by the 26 November Mary’s temperature began to spike, rising to the point where it caused a huge seizure. Despite being on IV antibiotics she was then transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital on the 26th November, but unfortunately she died of multi organ failure on the 27th November.
Mary’s parents made a formal complaint against the hospital as they believed she should have been admitted into Birmingham Children’s Hospital, instead of being transferred to New Cross Hospital. New Cross Hospital had fewer nursing staff in the high dependency unit, and they did not have the appropriate equipment or staff to correctly monitor Mary’s condition. As Mary’s short life would not have a high value in the eyes of the law, after reviewing her medical records we sent a detailed letter of claim inviting the defendants to admit liability.
Whilst the Trust did not make a formal admission of blame for Mary’s death, they indicated they wanted to settle the claim and we began negotiations with them. Due to the trauma this case had caused to the parents we explored whether it would be appropriate to bring a claim for psychological damage, however, Mary’s mum did not want to undergo a clinical psychological assessment, although we felt she had clearly been affected by Mary’s ordeal. We negotiated with the defendant for a settlement of £15,000.00. Mary’s parents were obviously entitled to a bereavement award, however they were clearly very traumatised by what had happened to their daughter and wanted the legal process to be over as soon as possible.