Having your child injured or harmed in any way before, during or shortly after birth is something that every parent and expecting parent dreads. Thankfully, these types of occurrences are very rare in the UK with our healthcare system, however they do unfortunately still happen. If you have been affected by a birth injury, there are a few organisations you can turn to for help and support. These include your local council, the NHS, and many different charities. For those whose child’s birth injury was caused by medical negligence, there is a further option available to you – a solicitor who can help you to make a birth injury compensation claim. Here is why that is an option you may wish to consider.
In what kind of case can I make a birth injury compensation claim?
A claim for compensation for a birth injury can be made in a case where there has been clinical or medical negligence – in other words, where the medical care you or your child received was substandard or negligent and the result was long term health damage. The health damage in question could be anything from epilepsy or cerebral palsy to meningitis and brain injury. Using a combination of medical records, your personal recollection of the treatment, other witness statements, and opinions from independent medical experts, you can make a claim for financial compensation from the NHS Trust that runs the hospital in question. A birth injury claim can generally be made up to three years after your son or daughter turns 18, although if they lack the capacity to bring the claim themselves then there is no time limit.
How can a birth injury solicitor help me?
Pursuing a birth injury compensation claim is a long and complex process that can take upwards of two years to fully resolve, therefore having a specialist birth injury solicitor such as Diane Rostron on your side is crucial. Using their expert knowledge and years of experience, birth injury solicitors can advise you on the likely outcome of your case and how best to move forward with it. Ultimately this will result in the best possible outcome for you and your family.
It is not possible to say in advance how much compensation a solicitor will be able to win for you. This will depend on factors such as how significant the error made was and the severity of the impact it had on your child’s health. However, if you have a strong case then it is worth pursuing, because compensation can be claimed for both financial losses – such as loss of earnings, and the cost of treatment and specialist equipment – and non-financial losses (such as suffering, pain and lifestyle changes). The damages you are awarded could go a long way towards helping your family cope with the emotional, physical and financial difficulties the birth injury has caused, and also to get some form of justice for the negligence that was done.
