Family of disabled child sue NHS for 'wrongful birth'

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here

bethoo, she would have , i am sure discussed it at lenght and i imagine would have been high risk.. the fact that the trust have admitted liability indicates, to me, that her care was not good enough considering her family medical history.

NHS trust do not admit liablity easily.

2 nurses day and night? Doesn't that seem a little extreme? I don't know of any SN childrean who have two nurses day and night - I admit my experience is very limited though.

but fab, she loves her boy and wants to provide the best care she can for him.. and that takes a hell of a lot of money

i would think she is a full time carer , unable to earn, and the adaptations needed to a family home and the care needed for respite etc is expensive and if she has the opportunity to get that money and make his life better, then i thikn that is fine

she is not asking to be compensated for being lumbered with a child with disabilites, but for the lack of information and ability to make informed choices.

the by product of that is a sum of money that will make their lives as a family easier

Well if proper care was provided for disabled kids and their families then she wouldn't need to sue. I presume she is doing it as a way of protecting her son's future. I think unless you've been there you cannot imagine the constant pressure - or understand how much easier it is with a little bit of help. Money buys that help.

I know someone with a child with more severe disabiltiies than rupert (this child needs 24 hours nursing care) and his family get 4 hours respite a week. He's a teenager. 4 hours ffs, how crap is that. And they have to employ the person and do the paperwork and find them. It's truly shocking. Ds1 gets a much better care package than that but it took a lot of game playing with social services to get a care package that benefits the family and in the end we lucked out with an extremely good social worker.

I understand the family have a huge emotional and financial burden on them as a result of their child's disabilities but that is 1.5 million that the NHS won't have to spend on good equipment and staff in the future. Why should one family benefit at the expense of many others?
I'm not saying that the family don't have a right to any compensation as obviously you would hope that with her family history they would have done further tests. However, scans are not 100% able to pick up all problems.

So, would it have been different if she had known before hand of his difficulties and decided to have him? What grounds for suing would she have had then?

Kingcanute- I would presume it depends what procedures are needed. DS1 for example needs a 2 to 1 ratio if he's going anywhere (or at least one and a half, the second adult could be accompanying a less challenging child). Some children do have very high care needs - and if they're being cared for at home may need 2 (if they were being cared for in an institution eg a school would need full time 1:1 plus part share of others around). Institutional care is still a lot more expensive than properly supported home care. But SS try to get parents to do it on the cheap and without support. Easy targets.

she would not be suing for wrongful birth in that case as she would have either decided to terminate, or carry on with the full knowledge of her son's needs.

Oh that argument about "if your child gets this then another child will miss out" is used all the time by professionals trying to avoid spending anything. I always tell them to name the child concerned and I'll fight for them as well "oh no we can't discuss other cases". OK fine let's get back to discussing what my son needs.

If the NHS and SS met his care needs properly and easily then she wouldn't have to sue. I know children who need new wheelchairs locally. If they don't get the correct wheelchair that fits the child correctly it affects their growth and can cause further damage. Of course not having a wheelchair isolates the child and family making it hard to get out. Waiting list time for new wheelchairs? 18 months. This group is vulnerable and an easy target for cost cutting. If the only way to get noticed is to sue so be it.

The Picoult book on wrongful birth is a really excellent bit of work, I think.
I can see how you would want to do anything to be able to support your child. But I also don't think I could sue the NHS. I am sure that for most people it is not something you would do lightly.

How much is a wheelchair, saintly?

I can see that saintly, clearly going out and about would require help and possibly giving meds/ feeding etc. I just think 2 nurses day and night with the mother as a full time carer as well seems a little, over the top?

depends on the chair
oh I love the I wouldn't sue people, so you would rather your child went with out their legs or voice?
sounds daft but the correct wheelchir is your childs legs and a VOCA can cost £8000(that is how much dd's will cost) so that is their voice.

My understanding is that the child is ventilated, and procedure means that 2 carers need to support the child because of issues with the trachy etc. If there is only one carer employed at night, then one of the parents must act as the second carer throughout the night.

fio thise are the very basic ones I assume

well I don't support those who would not spend on care and I do understand the huge costs involved in caring for someone with such a range of problems but I think that it IS greedy to aim to get millions for your family when this will mean millions are not available elsewhere.

I'm sure that there is more money needed in the NHS to support disability provision rather than less.

Just because the government also spend money on other things you don't agree on (like nuclear weapons) isn't an argument for screwing the public purse for personal gain.

The child I know who needed the wheelchair needed one that costs 1000's. She had a mismanaged birth which has left her very severely disabled indeed. She cannot sit or swallow. Her mother has chosen to get her needs met by a)sueing the NHS (whose negligence gave rise to the situation in the first place) and b) utilising the press. I can understand why - her needs are very great.

That sounds about right hamster. And of course the mother can't be the second carer night after night after night.

greedy
ffs I give up

ILoveDolly that really is a nasty post