Injured teenager awarded 21.6 million

A teenage girl who was left brain damaged at birth after a delayed Caesarean section and dismissed concerns from her mother has been awarded £21.6 million in compensation by an NHS Trust.

Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust admitted that her injuries could have been avoided with proper care at her birth. The girl's legal team, led by birth trauma specialist David Thomas, sued the trust for breaching its duty of care by delaying an emergency C-section, resulting in irreversible damage affecting her for life.

The Trust has accepted full liability, acknowledging that a junior registrar should not have attempted a ventouse delivery, where a vacuum cap is attached to the baby's head, nor should they have started the emergency Caesarean. The Trust admitted that a more experienced senior doctor should have led the delivery in such an emergency.

At a High Court hearing last week, Mrs. Justice Heather Williams approved a £21.6 million compensation package, including a lump sum of £6.2 million and RPI-linked annual payments for the rest of the girl's life. Known as GHJ to protect her identity, this is one of the largest NHS settlements for negligence.

GHJ's mother expressed her relief: "It has been a long journey for my family to reach this point, and I still get upset when I reflect on events in the delivery room and how my concerns were dismissed. Every day is a challenge, but this settlement means we can afford specialist care, therapies, and meet my daughter's accommodation needs for her future."

The girl was born at West Middlesex University Hospital in Isleworth, west London, following a difficult and traumatic labor during which doctors delayed performing a Caesarean section despite signs of fetal distress. GHJ was eventually delivered via emergency C-section, born unresponsive and not breathing. Initially declared dead, a faint pulse was detected after 28 minutes, and after resuscitation, she took her first breath.

An MRI scan at seven days old showed signs of an acute profound hypoxic-ischemic insult—a brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation. A subsequent scan at one year and three months confirmed the brain injury, resulting in long-term physical, mental, and learning disabilities that impair her ability to live independently. GHJ will require ongoing care and supervision for the rest of her life, as well as further therapy, treatment, and access to specialist accommodation and equipment.

Following her ordeal, GHJ's mother instructed leading medical negligence experts at Switalskis to investigate the care received and whether more could have been done to protect her baby. At the start of the court hearing, Leslie Watts CBE, the chief executive of Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, offered "sincerest apologies" in a letter to the mother, acknowledging that GHJ's injuries "could have been avoided if appropriate care had been provided."

The letter expressed hope that the financial settlement would provide the care and support needed to help GHJ "thrive and reach her maximum potential."

GHJ's mother added, "I am absolutely convinced that therapeutic cooling of my daughter's brain at Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea Hospital in the hours following her birth saved her from a worse fate, and I would like to see specialized cooling facilities in all maternity hospitals."

Broadgate Legal

Islington Solicitors 

Tel; 0203 206 1133