Compensation Payout For Hospital Negligence Resulting in Brain Damage and Cerebral Palsy to Unborn Child

Nine-year-old Cody Lyster-Hughes has won an eight-and-a-half year fight for compensation and been awarded up to £6.5m in damages by Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust after it admitted to mistakes and negligence that caused him to be born with severe disabilities.

Caroline Lyster, Cody’s mother, was admitted to Diana, Princess Of Wales Hospital with an infection. She was seven-and-a-half months pregnant; doctors treated her with steroids and antibiotics, but discharged her a day later.

However, she had e-coli, which could have been successfully treated if she had not been sent home; instead, she was re-admitted to hospital four days later, by which time her unborn child had been infected by the bacteria. Cody was born seven weeks early, with severe brain damage.

Negligence leads to cerebral palsy

He has cerebral palsy and development problems, is permanently wheelchair-bound, and will require full 24-hour care for the rest of his life. He also has extremely limited powers of speech.

His Honour Judge Jeremy Richardson, QC, has approved a settlement of an immediate lump sum of £2.75m, with future payments to meet the cost of his ongoing care potentially taking the total awarded to £6.5m.

The NHS Litigation Authority

According to the NHS Litigation Authority (NHS LA), the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust has now paid a total of £37,882,054 over the past decade.

The NHS LA has recently launched a pilot scheme in partnership with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, to help resolve claims where patients and families believe their care was substandard.

However, not all cases can be resolved by mediation, and a patient’s legal rights remain intact; should it not prove possible to find a resolution, a grievance can still be pursued through the court system.

Compensation settlement reached to provide long-term care for the brain damage

Carl Hughes, Cody’s father, spoke of his relief that the family can now put the case behind them. He said “Of course Cody's life and his future have been devastated by this and no settlement can change that. But at least we can make sure he has every possible chance of leading as fulfilling a life as possible because we will be able to provide him with the best care and facilities available”.

Wendy Booth, director of performance assurance across the trust, said "An apology has been provided and a settlement agreed which will be used to secure Cody's future and provide him with the care and therapies he requires. The Trust regrets the lapse in standards which led to Cody suffering this injury and wishes Cody and his family well for the future".

How to make a personal injury and medical negligence claim

You are entitled to expect a certain standard of treatment from those providing medical assistance to you. If this treatment falls below standard you may be entitled to recover the cost of the private medical treatment needed to correct the failings on the part of those originally treating you. Our goal at IBB Solicitors is to obtain justice for victims of the negligence by others, by securing compensation that reflects their pain and suffering, as well as related financial losses including loss of earnings, treatment costs and specialist care costs.

If you want to enquire about making a clinical negligence claim, please contact a member of our team on 01895 207835 or 01895 207295. Alternatively, you can send an email with your name and contact information and brief details as to the nature of the accident/clinical negligence and the injuries sustained to malcolm.underhill@ibblaw.co.uk and one of our team will be able to help you.