Family of disabled child sue NHS for 'wrongful birth'

[chamoiscreased]

here

I'm inclined to agree a bit with twoisplenty here.

There are different ways (and depths) of knowing things and sometimes you have to accept that some people just do know more about it than you - so listen.

That news report is not as well written as it should be. The lady did not go into a hospital with a gun and take the money. She went to court and it was legally decided to award that payment. That is not done lightly.

And clearly, people who "knew" decided that that's the sum of money required here.

If they hadn't sued they would be carrying the cost themselves.

So that report should be taking into account that people with some knowledge of the situation decided that award. The article should be absolutely focussing on the question of what can be done to make things better wrt to early diagnosis and care provision.

ILD - children who are disabled have the legal right to certain levels of care and support. They don't lose that legal right because someone else needs some care as well.

How would you feel if your child came home with a letter which said

Dear Parents

We have been informed that the LA no longer has enough money to teach all the children. Therefore to make it fair and ensure everyone gets access to some education we propose to teach teach class 3 on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesday AM, and class 4 on Wednesday PM, thursday and Friday'.

What would you do? Say "oh that's ok because others need it too. If course your wouldn't.

Or your child turns up at A and E with a broken arm, but 15 children have already been seen with broken arms that week so you need to go home and come back in 2 weeks time.

Acceptable? Well that's your argument.

twoisplenty - I'm not familiar with your background, but am sorry you/your family seem to have had a distressing experience with NHS care.

Don't leave twoisplenty. Or, rather, don't leave thinking that it's all a hopeless experience.

I'm a member of the general public. I'm finding it all informative. You, and others, are helping me understand stuff I didn't know before.

For every person that makes you shake with anger, there will be at least two who are nodding with you.

oh fio I became a chair for the respite centre this week (that makes me sound like something people sit on!)

twoisplenty. - I know what you mean. Take carexxx

if i was her, i would have accessed the services of a solicitor not just to ensure my child was provided for, but also to ensure that the pct realised that their antenatal care was sub-standard, and to force them to tighten up their procedures so that any other women in a similar decision were given the opportunity to make their own choices.

the sad fact is, many parents of children who have experienced a birth injury will never know what caused their child's disability unless they do utilise the services of a solicitor (compensation irrelevant). pct's can be extremely vague and 'one-of-those-things'y until a solicitor asks the question. obviously this is not the case in this instance, but i find the vitriol against parents who find themselves in this position with no answers quite unnerving.

there but for the grace of god.

PCT's are very good at 'losing' birth notes as well. First time I heard it had happened I though 'oh how unfortunate'. Fourth or fifth case I though . Which makes claiming anything hard.

ilovedolly your argument is without foresight

DS3's school inout hs meant he can now talk,which means that long term his care costs will have reduced from the projeted £200k per annum that MrsT mentions to a supported housing palce shared with 5 others

My carers allowance aptments have meant that ds1 (thriough intense therapy) may be coming off the list of poeple suspected as being headed towards alife of crime (he has asd which causes violent behaviours)

Dh can't support me atm due to redundancy which is basically ahrd cheese for us as far as I can see, but it is my experienced opinion that input as a child can save monsy long term, and those for whom it cant are the most severe anyway

exactly, mrs t. sometimes they are magically 'found' when a solicitor requests them...

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

an aguin- sirry not targetting, doing ten things at once as usual!

We (as in the sn community) cant often raise awareness becuase by definition we have extra responsibilities anyway

I do help SN famillies here access support in fact, on an informal basis but I and most dont have the time or energy to fight every battle we encounter, we rely on empathy for that, and a dewcent solicitor

I remember someone coming onto SN saying that their friend had had a very difficult birth and could we suggest anything and within seconds there were several cross posts saying 'tell her to photocopy her notes'.

I'm not going to add any more after this as I never intended to get at anyone personally, my comment about suing for personal gain was not meant specifically although in the context it was misplaced. Perhaps if NHS provision was less piecemeal it would not be necessary for indiviuals to have to resort to court to get what they need.

Going to court regarding liability to get answers is a different matter. No one could deny anyone's right to have legal recourse.

I'm not all that ignorant I just obviously have not been very careful about how I phrase things.

I remember that MrsT

funnily enough, I always wonderd if MW cottoned on with ds1 and his birth as it was something she told me to do within hours of the delivery

She couldnt have foreseen the ASD but I still think a brain scan would have icked up other things in that mix

i always recommedn that clients etc ask for their notes or a copy before they mention any possible complaint or further action

NHS trusts and local authorities are all frantically squirelling away cash to deal with litigation. Most of the cases they are accused of are completely fatuous ("fell over on hospital property and stubbed my toe") and driven by unscrupulous solicitors and members of the public who think they can get something for nothing.

This case is quite different. If the trust had the ability to screen for particular defects but through negligence missed them, then the family has every right pursue the matter.

The trust has admitted liability and should pay a fair amount to help. Other posters have already pointed out the stratospheric costs of intensive one-to-one care.

The fact that the trust is disuputing the amount given means there's only one winner in this case: the lawyers.

I wonder how many trusts don't offer ANY scans but the 13 week dating one?

Because Lothian and Borders doesn't.

If you want a 20-week, you have to pay for it. They claim they don't have enough sonographers to offer everyone a 20-week scan.

According to her profile, ILD will be teaching our children soon.

never mind,it also says she is a bleeding ehart ibera so itsclearly slightly incorrect somewhere

Still cant decide whether to work for SS or teaching, yesterday SS now I want to sort out the education sector. Anyone wanna vote me for Prime min?

expat - i think that generally the only one that is required to be offered is the 20 week anomaly - quite a lot of places don't offer dating scans as routine, unless there are other variables - such as mat/pat family history as in this case. how odd that lothian and borders are so different!

i've never been offered a dating scan lol.

Lothian PCT (Edinburgh) does not offer a 20 weeks one.

At all.

I went outside, calmed down, and came back again!

It worries me that some people believe taking action against the health authority is something planned, and for personal gain. In this particular case for this thread I would do exactly the same as the family. They are safeguarding their child's future, and hoping to achieve the very best for their child, and fight for the child's rights.

I have met families on both sides, some families do choose litigation, and some do not. It has always intrigued me why families choose NOT to sue, rather than those that fight their corner.

I think I am right in saying that, when a case is successful for the client, then the health professionals who were involved in the case (ie. caused the disability) do not have any penalties to pay, sometimes they are not even aware that a case has been won, only that a case is ongoing.

So there is no system in place to ensure the failure within the system won't happen again. So it does happen. Frequently. I know of at least three families (personally) who have sued.