An 11-year-old girl who faces a lifetime of acute disability due to blunders following her birth has won NHS compensation worth more than £10 million.
The girl was delivered at Malton Hospital in 2003 and suffered a respiratory collapse soon afterwards. The nearest general hospital, in York, was about 40 minutes away and she could not be got there in time to save her from oxygen starvation and permanent brain damage.
She has cerebral palsy and is dependent on her parents and will need lifelong specialist care. However her counsel, Robert Glancy QC, told London's High Court today: "It is hoped that she will live for many, many more years to come".
The girl's lawyers sued York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which admitted full liability for her injuries in 2013 and today issued a public apology in court through their lawyers.
The girl was born at Malton Hospital
The settlement includes a lump sum of £4.7 million, plus index-linked and tax-free annual payments for life to cover the costs of her care. Those payments will start at £102,500-a-year then rise to £210,000-a-year when she is 19. Her lawyers said the total package is worth well over £10 million.
Mr Glancy told the court a new home has been bought for the family and was being converted to meet the girl's needs.
Her parents have cared for her since birth but plan to 'step back' when she is 19, making way for full time professional carers.
The barrister added: "They have been placed under enormous strain, but they have coped well and all now seems set fair for the future".
Philip Havers QC, for the trust, apologised in open court for the 'shortcomings in care' and said the trust hoped that the money would meet her needs and give her as comfortable a life as possible.
Mrs Justice Lang approved the settlement, but ordered that the girl must not be identified due to her vulnerability.
She added: "This is a medical negligence claim arising from her treatment at birth when appropriate medical care was not made available to her".
The transfer to York Hospital came too late to save the girl from severe injury
The family's solicitor, Linda Levison, said outside court that the tragedy was caused by the lack of proper resuscitation facilities at Malton Hospital at the time.
The maternity unit was more than half an hour from York and the emergency transfer came too late to save her from catastrophic injury.
She added: "The real message of this case is that, if you have your baby at home, or in a stand-alone maternity unit, you are a long way from help.
"There is always a small chance of something going wrong; the potential consequences are terrible and people don't appreciate that.
"Minutes can make a difference in a case like this".
Ms Levison said: "Nothing can put my client back into the position she should have been in.
"Hopefully, however, this settlement will make life a bit more comfortable for her and her family.
"This should never have happened".
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