NHS payouts to negligence victims reach over £100million in ONE DAY

NHS pays out £100million to disabled children left brain damaged at birth in the space of just 24 hours

  • High Court approved settlements in 11 cases on Monday and Tuesday last week
  • Negligence victims receive up to three times larger payouts than they used to
  • Damages are awarded to cover the costs of providing care over a patient’s life

The NHS paid out more than £100million within just 24 hours to disabled children who suffered brain damage at birth.

The High Court approved settlements in 11 cases on Monday and Tuesday last week, which breached the monumental sum in total.

One of the payouts was for a record £37million, which was awarded to a six-year-old boy who suffered a catastrophic brain injury after contracting herpes in hospital. 

Negligence victims receive up to three times what they used to after ministers decided to alter how payouts are calculated last year.

The NHS paid out over £100million within just 24 hours to disabled children who suffered brain damage at birth. The High Court approved settlements in 11 cases last week (stock)

However, ministers are urgently seeking to reverse these changes and find a new way of settling compensation rates. 

Damages are awarded to cover the costs of providing care over the victim’s life. 

The amount they receive is adjusted according to the interest they can expect to earn by investing it. 

When finalising the compensation amount, courts apply a calculation called the Discount Rate.


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From 2002 until March 2017, discount rate was set at 2.5 per cent.

As a rule of thumb, the higher the discount rate, the lower the lump sum that is paid out.

Former justice secretary Liz Truss then reduced this to -0.75 per cent last year.

She claimed this should put the negligence victim in the same financial position had they not been injured, including loss of future earnings and care costs.

‘The law is absolutely clear – as lord chancellor, I must make sure the right rate is set to compensate claimants,’ Ms Truss said last February.

‘I am clear that this is the only legally acceptable rate I can set.’ 

The law states claimants of medical negligence payouts must be treated as ‘risk averse investors’.

This reflects the fact they are financially dependent on this lump sum; often for their entire lives.

However, the cost of the negative discount rate to the NHS’ spring budget last year was estimated to be £6billion, according to chancellor Philip Hammond.

A bill is now going through the House of Commons that will provide a new way of settling compensation rates, The Times reported.

It is awaiting approval and is expected to become law by next summer.

After consultation, a new discount rate will be introduced around nine months after that. 

The unnamed six-year-old boy who won a record £37million NHS compensation was infected with herpes following his birth at Watford General Hospital. 

The infection developed into a brain fever and ‘should have been but was not detected and acted upon’ soon enough, his barrister Henry Witcomb QC said.

Treatment was delayed by two days, resulting in ‘catastrophic damage to his brain’, he told London’s High Court.

The boy suffers from eyesight and communication problems, as well as cognitive, movement and behavioural issues.

A week before that payout, an 18-year-old woman was awarded almost £20million in compensation after she suffered brain injuries from being starved of oxygen at birth when doctors failed to properly ventilate her. 

NHS PAY OUTS A RECORD £37 MILLION TO A SIX-YEAR-OLD BOY WHO SUFFERED A BRAIN INJURY AFTER CATCHING HERPES AT THE HOSPITAL WHERE HAS WAS BORN  

A six-year-old boy who suffered a catastrophic brain injury after contracting herpes won a record £37 million NHS compensation payout in October 2018.

Following his birth at Watford General Hospital, the youngster was infected with the virus, which developed into a devastating brain fever, a court heard.

The infection ‘should have been but was not detected and acted upon’ soon enough, according to his barrister Henry Witcomb QC.

Treatment was delayed by two days, resulting in ‘catastrophic damage to his brain’, he told London’s High Court.

The boy, who cannot be identified, suffers from eyesight and communication problems, as well as cognitive, movement and behavioural issues.

A six-year-old boy who suffered a brain injury after contracting herpes at Watford General Hospital (pictured) has won a record £37 million NHS compensation payout

Mrs Justice Lambert said the late diagnosis delayed the youngster from being treated with the anti-viral drug Acyclovir.

‘The effects of the negligence have been tragic both for the boy and his family,’ the judge added.

The family’s lawyers sued West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, for damages.

Mrs Justice Lambert said the trust admitted liability for what happened to the boy at an early stage and agreed to settle his case.

The boy will receive a lump sum payout, plus annual, index-linked and tax-free payments to cover the costs of the 24-hour care he will require for the rest of his life.

The capitalised value of the settlement, calculated over the boy’s lifetime, comes to more than £37 million, Mr Witcomb said.

This is believed to be by far the biggest ever award in a clinical negligence case, the previous record being around £20 million.

John Whitting QC, who represented the trust, said its chief executive wrote a letter of apology to the boy’s family in May last year.

He added, on behalf of the trust: ‘The care which he received was not of an appropriate standard and for that we are acutely sorry.’

‘Lessons had been learned and steps taken to make sure ‘nothing similar will ever happen again’.

 

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