Deprived of oxygen at birth left child severely disabled

Wayne Walker, solicitor in our Clinical Negligence department, discusses the story of Tom Hord, who was starved of oxygen at birth for 20 minutes before those who were charged to treat him, performed a caesarean section. Tom was left severley disabled, despite the mother having been through a normal pregnancy.

Wayne says: “this story represents the difficulties faced by parents having gone through pregnancy to labour. They place their trust in medical professionals and expect a standard of care that was clearly missed on this occasion. Although 20 minutes does not seem like a long delay, it has devastating effects of the whole family unit for the remainder of the childs life through to adulthood.

The NHS do not voluntarily confirm their failings and, even after a formal complaint has been made; those failings are rarely openly admitted. On this occasion, the Trust admitted to their failings in 2009 through due to the formal legal process and it takes such a long time to determine what those failings have caused. It is necessary to get a Medical Negligence specialist to investigate the causes and future ramifications so that the injured child is able to have a quality of life that would not be possible without financial compensation.

At the same time, when these cases are brought and reported, the Trust involved should ensure that such action does not occur again by having the right staff available to treat patients and who are sufficiently qualified to prevent such occurrences.

Prevention is usually a lot cheaper financially.”