Contacted by the NHS Resolution or Early Notification Scheme (ENS)? Here’s what you need to know

The ENS and Early Intervention process allows NHS Resolution to:

• obtain early information about the circumstances surrounding the birth;
• investigate possible maternity care mistakes sooner than waiting for the parents to make a birth injury compensation claim;
• access parents’ recollections before a formal legal claim is made;
• advise parents on whether they may have a compensation claim.

However, it is important to remember that this advice is provided:

• before parents have had the opportunity to obtain independent legal advice; and
• it is from the perspective of the NHS defence organisation.

For this reason, we strongly recommend that parents seek advice from specialist medical negligence solicitors experienced in birth injury claims.

After investigating, NHS Resolution may:

• (in some but not all cases) admit that negligent care or maternity mistakes were made;
• (occasionally) admit that negligent maternity care caused the baby’s brain injury;
• offer to make an interim payment (only where both negligence and causation are admitted).

Parents should be aware that a refusal by NHS Resolution to admit liability (fault) or causation does not mean that their child has no claim.

In over 50% of the cases that our cerebral palsy lawyers won or settled for clients last year NHS Resolution initially refused to admit full liability.

As specialists in brain injuries to babies, our highly experienced lawyers are skilled at identifying where maternity or neonatal care errors caused or contributed to our client’s injury and proving our client’s right to substantial compensation.

Once liability is admitted, we push for immediate, substantial interim payments for our clients, which routinely far exceed the amounts offered by NHS Resolution following ENS.

The ENS scheme only investigates the maternity care given to babies who show signs of possible hypoxic brain damage in the few days immediately after birth. Hypoxia or asphyxia means lack of oxygen.

Claims for cerebral palsy most commonly follow brain injury from the baby being allowed to suffer lack of oxygen around the time of birth.

NHS Resolution’s Early Notification Scheme only applies if the newborn baby:

• has a diagnosis of Grade 3 HIE (hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy);
• needed therapeutic cooling after birth;
• had seizures, coma or floppiness (hypotonia) after birth.

Many children with neurological injuries or brain damage may still be entitled to compensation even if they do not meet the ENS criteria.

We regularly help families where injuries were caused by other types of maternity or neonatal mistakes.