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In hospital, babies who are born prematurely, unwell or who are small for their gestational age will need specialist neonatal care.
This usually takes place in a neonatal unit (NNU) or special care baby unit (SCBU) or a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), depending on the treatment, monitoring and breathing support needed by the baby.
Newborn babies are admitted to the neonatal unit when they have or are at risk of a condition or complications which need specialist care, observation and treatment. Most commonly, a newborn baby may need neonatal unit care if they:
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A newborn baby may have a medical negligence claim if they have suffered serious injury from:
Perinatal asphyxia is the name given to a baby’s lack of oxygen or breathing problems around the time of birth.
The unborn baby (fetus) may not get enough oxygen just before birth, usually in the final hours or minutes of labour and during delivery. An unborn baby’s heart-rate will be regularly monitored during a properly managed labour and delivery. If signs, such as abnormalities in the CTG fetal heart monitor recording, suggest that the baby is struggling to get enough oxygen, steps should be taken to deliver the baby quickly to avoid damage to the baby’s brain.
A newborn baby may have difficulty breathing immediately after birth. Where a baby is known to be suffering from lack of oxygen at the time of birth, specialist neonatal nurses or paediatricians should be present at the birth to clear the newborn baby’s airway and provide resuscitation or ventilation to help the baby breathe.
When a baby’s brain is damaged from lack of oxygen around the time of birth, the type of brain damage is known as hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (meaning damage to the brain from lack of oxygen in the blood) or HIE.
Meconium is the medical name for a newborn baby’s first faeces. It is normal for a baby to pass meconium soon after birth.
Meconium contains the material that the unborn baby ingested whilst it was in the womb, so it is thick, dark green, and sticky like tar, unlike the yellowish coloured nappies of a baby who is fed on milk.
During labour and delivery, meconium staining in the amniotic fluid can be one of the signs that the unborn baby is struggling to take in oxygen and suffering from fetal distress. If the newborn baby breathes in (inhales or aspirates) meconium, it can block the baby’s airway. A baby who has aspirated meconium must have their airway cleared as soon as they are born, to allow them to breathe. This is why meconium can be both a sign and a cause of oxygen deprivation during or immediately after birth.
Delays in delivering a distressed baby or in clearing their airway and resuscitating immediately after birth prolong the period of oxygen deprivation (hypoxia/asphyxia). Without oxygen, the baby’s brain can be damaged in minutes, leaving them with permanent brain damage and lifelong disability.
A baby may have a claim if they suffered distress with meconium before birth or inhaled meconium at birth, which caused:
Kernicterus is a rare but serious complication of jaundice. Jaundice is a yellow colouring of the skin.
It happens when babies build up too much of a chemical called bilirubin in their blood. In most cases this condition goes away on its own, but some babies need phototherapy or exchange transfusion treatment. If the baby’s bilirubin level is allowed to get too high it causes brain damage. Kernicterus is the name given to the pattern of damage that is done to the baby’s brain by excessive levels of bilirubin.
Claims for kernicterus brain injury usually arise after delays in referral, diagnosis and treatment of babies with jaundice by hospital maternity or neonatal and paediatric staff, community midwives or GPs.
Kernicterus is dangerous but it is preventable with proper care. If your child has suffered kernicterus brain injury, you should seek advice from a specialist brain injury solicitor with experience of kernicterus compensation claims.
Severe neurological disability, such as cerebral palsy, can be caused by infection in pregnancy, during labour and birth, during the neonatal period (immediately after birth) or in the child’s infancy.
Cerebral palsy claims often arise from negligent delay in diagnosis and treatment of the infection.
Common infective causes of cerebral palsy or serious neurological disability include:
Where diagnosis and treatment of infection in a newborn baby is delayed, it can lead to life-threatening conditions and permanent disability, including:
Claims arise when a baby’s incorrectly treated infection causes permanent brain injury and lifelong, severe neurodevelopmental disability.
Our neonatal injury lawyers have helped clients who have been injured by negligent treatment for infection after:
Hypoglycaemia means low blood sugar (glucose). Neonatal hypoglycaemia is a common condition in newborn babies who are unable to maintain healthy blood sugar levels in the first few days of life before they are feeding regularly.
Although common and treatable, neonatal hypoglycaemia can be dangerous if the baby’s blood sugar is allowed to drop below safe levels. If untreated, it can cause permanent brain damage and disability. Hypoglycaemia can occur alongside other serious neonatal conditions.
Hypoglycaemia negligence claims
Claims arise when the baby suffers permanent brain injury and lifelong, severe neurodevelopmental disability.
Our neonatal injury lawyers have helped clients who have been permanently injured by neonatal hypoglycaemia following:
Vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB) or haemorrhagic disease of the newborn, is a rare blood clotting disorder. It affects 1 in 10,000 newborn babies. It is caused by a shortage of Vitamin K.
At birth, babies don’t have the intestinal bacteria that their body needs to create Vitamin K, a natural substance which helps our blood clot and keeps our bones strong. This leaves them at risk of Vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB).
VKDB affects each baby differently. Some babies bleed in their urine, from their rectum or from the mucous membranes in their nose and gums. For some babies VKDB will be fatal. Around one third of babies with VKBD bleed into their brain, causing permanent brain injury and serious disability.
To protect babies from VKDB and the serious injuries that it causes, it is standard practice for newborn babies to be given Vitamin K, either by injection or orally, immediately after birth. Where the midwives or doctors fail to administer Vitamin K to a newborn baby and the baby suffers permanent injury from VKDB, they may be entitled to claim compensation for their injury.
Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding (VKDB) negligence claims
Claims arise when a baby newborn baby suffers intracranial bleeding, brain injury and lifelong, severe disability.
Our neonatal injury lawyers have helped clients who have been permanently injured by VKDB following hospital or community midwife failure to administer Vitamin K at or immediately after birth.
Newborn babies who are unwell or premature sometimes need help to breathe. After initial resuscitation, they may be moved for intensive care to the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) where their breathing will be controlled by a ventilator machine.
Ventilation must be carefully managed to avoid overventilation, in which the baby’s carbon dioxide levels become dangerously low. This reduces the blood flow to the baby’s brain, leading to:
Claims arise when the baby suffers serious injury after negligent care resulting in over-ventilation, including:
Negligent neonatal care of a newborn baby can cause severe disability which lasts far beyond the baby’s first few weeks. The injury may not be obvious straight away. Depending on when the damage to the child becomes apparent, our client families may come to us at different stages of their child’s development.
In some cases, we meet the parents of an injured child shortly after birth. This usually happens when the parents know that something has gone wrong. They may have struggled to get urgent medical treatment for a child with infection, which develops into meningitis. Their baby’s brain scan may show a type of injury that is caused by hospital negligence. For example, brain scans can show kernicterus (from untreated jaundice), intracranial bleeding (from lack of Vitamin K), or HIE (from lack of oxygen).
In other cases, such as where the baby has been injured by untreated neonatal hypoglycaemia, the injury may not be obvious straight away. Parents may not realise that their child has neurological disability until they fail to meet developmental milestones, or struggle to keep up with others in school.
In these cases, the parents may come to us when the child is of school age. Sometimes it is the injured teenager or young adult who comes to us directly to ask for help with investigating the cause of their disability.
Neonatal brain injury can leave the injured child with impairments which range from hardly noticeable subtle problems to a diagnosis of cerebral palsy with very severe disability. The full extent of the problems caused by the neonatal injury may only come to light as the child grows and develops.
We have helped children and teenagers with neonatal injury who now have:
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Medical negligence is when a medical professional, such as a doctor, midwife, or nurse, or other healthcare practitioner is negligent if they act in a way that falls below any acceptable standard of care.
If someone is injured as a result of medical negligence, they are entitled to compensation for any injury that was caused and for the financial consequences of that injury.
Medical negligence claims that involve severe injury and disability should always be handled by specialist medical negligence solicitors. It takes experience and skill to successfully prove that medical negligence has caused a patient’s injuries, and to secure the highest levels of compensation.
Anyone who has suffered serious injury or disability as a result of negligent NHS or private medical care can make a medical negligence claim for compensation. Special rules apply to children, adults with mental incapacity, and claims arising from a fatal injury/someone’s death.
Children and teenagers under the age of 18, or anyone with mental incapacity, must make their claim via a ‘litigation friend’. This is usually a parent or guardian in the case of a child, or a partner or other adult family member in the case of an adult with mental incapacity. The solicitor handling the claim takes instructions and works closely with the litigation friend whilst ensuring that decisions are made in the best interests of the child or mentally incapable adult who is making the claim. You can find out more about making a claim for a child.
Some important decisions, such as agreements to settle a child or mentally incapable adult’s claim, must be approved by the court. Arrangements must also be made to safeguard the child or mentally incapable adult’s compensation, whether from an interim payment, lump sum settlement or agreed future payments. Depending on the claimant’s circumstances, this may be done by paying the money into a Court Funds Office account until the child is 18, by appointing a Court of Protection deputy or setting up a personal injury trust. You can find out more about Court of Protection deputyship and personal injury trusts.
If the claim is for bereaved family members and dependants after medical negligence caused someone’s death, the claim must be made by the deceased’s personal representative (executor or administrator of their estate) on behalf of all who are entitled to compensation as a result of the death. You can find out more about making a fatal injury medical negligence claim here.
The NHS has a responsibility to provide its patients with a safe and acceptable level of care. If a patient is seriously injured or their condition is made significantly worse as a result of negligent NHS care, the patient may be entitled to claim compensation.
Compensation can help meet the costs of care, therapies, equipment and home adaptations that are needed when an NHS mistake causes injury or disability that permanently affects the patient’s life.
We are experts at helping clients receive the compensation they deserve from the NHS. We understand the concerns that patients and their families sometimes have about claiming against the NHS. You can read our answers to many of the most common questions on our NHS claims page or speak to one of our solicitors about your own claim by contacting us.
Whilst we cannot guarantee that any particular claim will settle out of court, we take great care in investigating and preparing each claim that we take on. Our clients’ claims usually settle successfully without the need for a contested trial.
Occasionally, cases can only be concluded by a formal court hearing, such as where:
Where our client’s claim is complicated by any of the above, we may advise our client that for the case to proceed, it must go to a court hearing. Our caring and highly experienced medical negligence solicitors and barristers ensure that our clients are always kept informed and supported.
Even in non-contested cases, there will be occasions when the case is brought for shorter hearings before the court, such as after a settlement for a child or brain injured adult without mental capacity takes place. In these cases, the lawyers for both sides present the agreed settlement to the court for the judge’s approval.
Each claimant’s compensation is calculated in accordance with mandatory rules based on their individual circumstances.
Compensation for medical negligence should put the injured person back in the position that they would have been in if the negligence hadn’t happened, in so far as money can.
In a medical negligence claim, the amount of compensation depends on:
Compensation for medical negligence usually includes a sum for the injury, and sums to compensate for financial losses and the cost of meeting the needs that arise from the disability.
Our medical negligence solicitors ensure clients receive their compensation in the way that is best suited to meet their needs.
Depending on our clients’ injuries, individual circumstances and needs, we can recover compensation to pay for:
Where medical negligence caused someone’s death, compensation may be claimed by the deceased’s dependants and on behalf of the deceased’s estate. Compensation in a fatal injury medical negligence claim can be paid for:
There are three ways to fund a medical negligence claim, legal aid, no win no fee, and legal expense insurance.
A medical examination is usually needed to assess our client’s injury. Where our client has suffered multiple injuries or both physical and psychological injuries, they may need to be examined by specialists in each area. This is important to make sure that our client’s injuries are fully assessed and understood, so that they can be properly compensated.
If a medical examination is needed, we instruct the specialist and make the arrangements. We ensure that they have access to our client’s medical records and are aware of the background to the claim. The hospital or doctor against whom the claim is being made may also ask for our client to be examined by their medical expert.
The law states that, in most cases, someone who has been injured as a result of medical negligence has three years from the date of the negligence which caused the injury to issue court proceedings. If they fail to issue court proceedings within that time, their claim will be statute barred, meaning that they lose their right to bring a claim.
There are the following exceptions to the three-year rule:
Regardless of your time limit, we recommend that you contact our medical negligence solicitors as soon as you can, even if at that stage you are only considering whether to make a claim.
By contacting us early, it avoids later problems with deadlines and allows us to advise you on how to collect and preserve essential evidence. This enables us to ensure you have the best chance of securing your entitlement to full compensation for your claim.
If a baby, child, or teenager under the age of 18 makes a claim for compensation for injuries caused by medical negligence, their claim is made on their behalf by a ‘litigation friend’. This is usually a parent or guardian.
As the child’s solicitor, we have a responsibility to make sure that all decisions relating to the claim are made in the best interests of the child. To do this, we work very closely with the child’s family. Some important decisions, such as settlement agreements or the amount of money that is allocated to a child in a claim involving more than one claimant, must be approved by the court.
We are specialists in helping families obtain full compensation for children who have been very severely injured, leaving them with permanent disability and lifelong specialist needs. Our expert children’s claims service includes a dedicated Court of Protection team who help our clients protect, budget and access their compensation via deputyship and trusts, and an SEN team to ensure that their special educational needs are met. Find out more about how we help families, children, and teenagers with children’s claims.
If you think that you or a family member have received negligent medical treatment or have experienced malpractice, we recommend that you speak to one of our friendly, experienced clinical negligence claim solicitors as soon as possible.
You can contact us by telephone or by email. Your enquiry will be handled confidentially and preliminary advice in relation to pursuing a claim will be given free of charge.
Our medical negligence solicitors will ask you to tell us briefly what has happened, advise you about the limitation deadlines (time limits) which apply to your claim and whether we are able to help you investigate your claim.
Once our initial investigations have taken place, we will notify the defendant (hospital or doctor) of your intention to pursue a claim and invite them to respond, giving them an opportunity to admit liability, before court proceedings are issued.
If liability is admitted, we will enter judgment and apply for an interim payment as soon as possible to meet any urgent needs that you may have as a result of the negligently caused injury.
If liability is disputed, we will discuss with you the further steps that we need to take to progress your claim.
Our extensive guide on making a medical negligence claim explains the whole process, if you require any further information.
The duration of a medical negligence claim depends on the individual circumstances of the client’s case. The claim is likely to take less time to conclude where:
Circumstances which make the claim more complex and therefore take longer to resolve include:
Our medical negligence solicitors work hard to secure early admissions of liability and substantial interim payments so that we can begin to alleviate financial hardship and provide essential care, respite, specialist equipment, therapies and home adaptations long before the claim has settled. With liability judgments secured and interim funds in place, the individual and their family are able to focus on rebuilding their lives whilst we concentrate on valuing and negotiating settlement of the claim.
Compensation is carefully structured to ensure the best provision for the injured person’s needs. Our clients often benefit from different types of compensation, including:
Where healthcare is found to be (legally) negligent, then the claimant (the person making the claim) must prove that their injury was caused or significantly worsened by the negligent care.
This is important because the patient may already be very ill when they receive negligent medical care. In those circumstances, they must prove that their injury (and its financial consequences) would have been avoided or greatly reduced if correct treatment had been given. This aspect of the medical negligence claim is known as ‘causation’. Causation must be proven, even if negligence is admitted, for the claim to succeed and compensation to be awarded.
Negligence and causation must be proven by supportive opinions from medical experts. We instruct experts in the same field of medicine as the negligent care to tell us whether the care that was given was of a reasonable standard. If negligence is proven, we ask medical specialists in the type of injury suffered, to confirm whether our client’s injury was caused or made worse by the negligent treatment, or would have been reduced or avoided with correct care.
In a medical negligence claim, compensation will only be paid for injuries and loss that we can prove were caused by the healthcare provider’s negligence. Once we know what mistakes were made, the next step (causation) is to identify the extent of the injury or disability that was caused by those mistakes.
Proving causation in complex medical negligence cases requires both medical expertise and understanding of the law. We often succeed in claims where NHS Resolution (the NHS’ defence organisation) has denied ‘causation’. You can read more about how we overcome difficulties with causation in complex birth injury cases.
Mar 2020
Aug 2016
Our medical negligence and personal injury teams have been nationally recognised for over 20 years because of their expertise, empathy and commitment to securing maximum compensation for our clients.
What has to be some of the most testing horrible times was dealt with in a dignified, honest, approachable and truly empathetic manner. I could not begin to do Susan justice for her handling of our case.
I approached Boyes Turner after my claim was turned down by one of the Medical Negligence Claim company. My wife was a victim of medical negligence.
Boyes Turner have acted so efficiently on our behalf and was able to win our case. Anytime we contact them, their customer service was very good as they kept us fully informed of every level our case has developed. They are very friendly and approachable and great in their professional advise. I would strongly recommend anyone approach them for their legal and medical negligence services.
Thoroughly professional, knowledgable and approachable with communication and updates as and when needed, in what can be a drawn out process, I was always comfortable asking questions and always received answers which were clear and understandable. Highly recommend
I came to Boyes Turner desperate after searching the web for a firm to use for my sons case. He was only a few months so my mind was all over the place, but from the very first point of contact I felt a sense of relieve and belonging. I was welcomed and looked after by amazing staff who always communicated everything so well and went the extra mile to explain things and ensure I understood what was happening every step of the way (THANK YOU SUSAN BROWN). Susan was amazing I felt like I not only had a solicitor but someone who understood my emotions as a mother and always handled me with so much compassion and that was all I needed to keep me going for the 6 years of the case. Years went by in a breeze because of how professional Boyes Turner was. I am so greatful I went through it all with them and mananged to get my son a good compensation. We look forward our new life where my sons needs are priority after struggling for so long. Thank you Boyes Turner and thank you Susan Brown. My family and I are ever indebted.
From the moment I picked up the phone and spoke to Richard Money-Kyrle I knew I had done the right thing by choosing Boyes Turner to take our claim forward and to represent my son. Both Richard Money-Kyrle and Alpa Rana have worked on our case and they both have been amazing throughout, explaining every step of the way and anything we didn’t understand and keeping me updated constantly. This gave me and my family a lot of reassurance. Both Richard and Alpa are friendly and gained my trust and have been really easy to talk to which has made the process a whole lot easier and smoother than anticipated. The outcome of the claim was far more than I could have wished for and that was down to their hard work and expertise I couldn’t fault them they have been brilliant throughout the whole process I would recommend Boyes Turner to anyone.
