Family of disabled child sue NHS for 'wrongful birth'

[chamoiscreased]

here

ILD - the money comes from insurance, not another service.

When the NHS has constantly failed to provide to meet your child's need you tend to give less of a stuff about sueing it- particularly if they caused the problem in the first place. Millions is wasted in the NHS and I'm fairly sure that this mother wouldn't be sueing if her child's needs could be met in other ways (why put yourself through the stress).

I think it is one of those situations where unless you have been there you can only guess what you would do. I learned first hand that it's so easy to say, 'I would never....' and then do exactly that when faced with unexpected horrors.

"personal gain" ??

Unbelievable.

I think the figure is quite low for lifetime care tbh. If ds1 was in resi care now (with no medical needs - just 24 hour 1:1 needed) his care would cost £200,000 a year. Two hundred thousand. With a normal life expectancy.

Please read the report here before you make any kind of comment about greed or personal gain. Otherwise you're simply coming across as ignorant beyond words.

I really wish people on here who have NO PERSONAL EXPERIENCE of the HELL of going to court, the years of stress of going through the process of litigation would go away - YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

It is the usual moaning, critisising MN that I utterly hate. If you do not understand why this family went through the litigation process, and have no facts at your fingertips except ONE report from the media, then you cannot possibly comment.

So don't.

Why did she have to sue the NHS to get proper care?

Seems to me that's the issue. If the family was getting adequate help, then there wouldn't be the need to go through showing fault. And legal costs are bound to add to the overall costs. (and why did it have to go to court anyway if liability was admitted?)

this article also spells out the financial realities of having a disabled child. Greedy is just offensive.

Do you really think that the government will devote a larger budget to your local health authority because you have sued them? I don't think so.

Also, I know people who work in the LEA allocating support and equiptment for SEN children and they often have to make really terrible decisions between different children's needs. Of course professionals can't discuss other cases with you, that doesn't mean there isn't another child with a greater need. And it doesn't mean that they haven't spent ages trying to secure as much as possible from impossibly tight budgets.

Sueing means less money to go around. End of.

'did she not mention these facts to her health care provider/mw/gp?
'

probably

many yeras ago this same hospitalscanned me following the news that ds3 was very high risk downs

when I went for the scan at 22 weeks (they wouldnt bring it forwards, I ahdnt wanted an amnio- becuase I wouldnt ahev been able to rest as dh was ill then and I had 2 kids at home) they didn't have me assigned to the detailed scanner as nobody had noticed the AFP risk in my notes and had just assumed I was low risk as under 30 (was 29)

Luckily a sonographer grabbed the scanner when it ahd a free moment but absolutely I can beleive this yes

Well said twoisplenty.

And precisely ilovemydog.

'Do you really think that the government will devote a larger budget to your local health authority because you have sued them? I don't think so.

Also, I know people who work in the LEA allocating support and equiptment for SEN children and they often have to make really terrible decisions between different children's needs. Of course professionals can't discuss other cases with you, that doesn't mean there isn't another child with a greater need. And it doesn't mean that they haven't spent ages trying to secure as much as possible from impossibly tight budgets.
'

Oh get realistic

what should we do?

not ask fro the help the kids need because someone else might need it mroe

Damned right someone probably does, but the boys disability still needs addressing- I can't sacrifice their needs and potentially independenct lives for a what if someone else needs it, that would be incredibly poor parenting

I've never yet sued but I ahve threatened it, to keep my child safe. Absolutely right decision.

how the payouts for these claims are funded:-

www.nhsla.com/Claims/Schemes/CNST/

it's a self-insurance scheme. so it's simply not the case that the trust will shell out all the money and costs.

Look, I'm sorry if I came over as being unneccessarily harsh. But where is this money supposed to come from?

There aren't millions to go to families even if that does take into account your loss of income.

The case being discussed is terrible, for the parents and they will have to struggle financially but if there was enough money to go to everyone who deserved it then that would be great. But there isn't.

so everyone should go without?

if i had a child with such serious special needs, i would not be a martyr, i would do everything i could to ensure that child and our family had enough support and money.

If they get sued enough they may put into place provision that is better, so makes it worth their while not being sued and it becomes cheaper to meet people's needs in the first place. If I decide I've had enough and cannot cope with ds1 anymore the LA will have to find 200 000 PLUS a year to look after him. It is in their interests to provide me and my family with adequate support.

And my point was as parents you can only fight for your own child. No I don't expect them to discuss other cases with me, but nor do I expect them to use that lazy argument. My son has needs that are protected under law and it's my job to make sure he receives those services. However many other children there are who also need those services is not my problem - that's for the council. I feel terribly sorry for the children whose parents can't fight for them because bloody hell they need 'that mother' on their side. I'm not going to have ds1's future life affected because the council is too busy losing money in Icelandic banks. Balancing the books is their problem, not mine.

Ilovemydog - you asked why the case would go to court at all if liability was admitted. there are several reasons:-

1. because they still need to establish the correct compensation amount (quantum), which could be very contentious and subject to legal argument, given the large amounts of money involved.

1. because cases involving minors will always require a court's approval of the settlement, even if the compensation amount is agreed.

1. because whilst they are waiting to establish the compensation amount, the family want an interim payment for care/adaptations etc, and so had to apply to the court for that.

I don't actually care where the money comes from. The NHS have a duty of care, and if that fall below standard and causes catastrophic disability or death, then they should be held responsible. And they do, to their credit. It is a lengthy process however and not the for the feint hearted.

It is not up to me or any other user of the NHS to sort their finances out. It is irrelevant.

You come across as completely ignorant ILD rather than harsh.

As TC said the claims are paid out of insurance. And no families shouldn't have to sue. But the NHS and SS have a duty to put in place adequate support.

You absolutely have a right to ask for help. You should get all the support that you need. I wish that there was more help if available to people.

But sometimes, as money is tight, you don't get it for a reason, because many others also need it.

I think that there should be other ways of raising awareness besides suing.

This thread is making me literally shake with anger. The sheer stupidity of the ignorant general public.

I am going to leave this now.

Fio, the care would need to be provided by trained nurses so would be much more expensive than that.
If the NHS actually provided the level of care and equipment to the standard that was needed then there would be no need for the parents to sue. But reality is that they provide a crap service and therefore additional money is needed by families to ensure that the childs needs are met.