XXX v Ashford and St Peter’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – Liability Settlement reached in June 2024 in relation to an Erb’s Palsy injury sustained during a 1998 birth – June 2024
Kate Stone was instructed by XXX who had sustained a left sided Narakas Group II Erb’s Palsy injury during his birth in 1998.
His parents had previously instructed another firm of solicitors back in 2004. A Letter of Claim had been sent to the Defendant Trust by the previous solicitors. The Trust did not accept that they were responsible, and the solicitors advised that they were unable to take the claim further.
XXX came to Tozers on the recommendation of the Erb’s Palsy Group Charity given our national specialism in such claims. Following instruction Kate Stone instructed high calibre experienced medical experts, both in respect of breach of duty and causation. A Letter of Claim was drafted setting out allegations very different to those advanced back in 2004. The claim was again denied by the Defendant Trust necessitating the issue of court proceedings.
This was a complex case as the Claimant’s birth was in 1998 and with the passage of time the parents’ recollections of events were limited. In 1998, unlike today, there was no national guideline in place produced by the Royal College of Obstetricians for the management of Shoulder Dystocia. This therefore necessitated detailed research of contemporaneous textbooks and articles in order to evidence what constituted a reasonable standard of care at that time.
Medical reports commissioned by both the Claimant and Defendant were exchanged. Joint meetings of experts took place and there continued to be a significant difference in expert opinion as to what constituted a reasonable standard of care some 26 years ago. Happily, however, as a result of significant effort by the Claimant legal team a liability compromise was achieved at a Joint Settlement Meeting in June 2024.
As the Claimant in this claim is an adult there is no need for this settlement to be approved by the Court. A final prognosis has already been provided, so the next step will be to gather appropriate medical reports in order to assess the extent to which the injury will affect our client throughout his life and to calculate this loss in monetary terms to ensure that he is appropriately compensated for his significant and lifelong injury.
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SOLICITORKate Stone |
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