14-year wait for payout after blunder at birth left boy disabled
Family gets £6m compensation
THE parents of a Midland boy left severely disabled after being starved of oxygen at birth have revealed they ran up huge debts fighting a 14-year battle for compensation.
In a cruel twist, they then suffered taunts from online trolls when they finally got an NHS payout.
Oliver Spencer, whose son Daniel has cerebral palsy caused by a major failing in care during labour in 2001, said it takes “a terrifying long time” for families to receive a payout.
They eventually received more than £6 million – but with it came cruel trolling which caused them further heartache.
The family’s call to speed up the compensation process comes as latest NHS figures reveal medical blunders dating back more than two decades are still costing millions of pounds a year in compensation.
Trusts across Birmingham and the West Midlands have paid out millions in compensation for mistakes, mainly in maternity care, made before 1995.
The Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust forked out more than £3 million between 2012 and 2017, and was the 14th highest trust in England’s league table for historic negligence pay-outs.
Nationally, the negligence bill for mistakes made before 1995 has begun to rise for the first time in five years, according to figures provided by NHS Resolution.
“We were living in limbo for 14 years,” said Mr Spencer, from Malvern, Worcestershire.
“We received an interim payment but we were terrified to spend it because we just did not know when the next payment would be made.
“We were not working because Dan needed round-the-clock care.
“But we still had outgoings, not to mention the money we needed to spend on making sure Dan had the care and support he needed.
“Consequently, we did get into debt during that time.”
Daniel, now aged 16, was eventually awarded £6.5 million in compensation at the Birmingham High Court, which heard he was starved of oxygen during delivery at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
The teenager was diagnosed with severe athetoid cerebral palsy, which has left him unable to walk, with limited mobility, learning difficulties and needing 24-hour care. His family was finally awarded a £2.7 million lump sum in 2015 after medical staff failed to respond when his mother, Sue, suffered a rupture in the placenta, and Daniel’s heart rate began fluctuating.
Daniel also receives annual payments to fund his ongoing care.
At the time, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said it “sincerely regrets” the injury Daniel suffered.
The money is now helping to pay for specialist equipment, which Mr Spencer said was often “stupidly expensive”, as well as home alterations and physiotherapy.
Shockingly, Mr Spencer said his family have also been ‘trolled,’ with people criticising them for being handed such a large amount of compensation.
“We have had comments such as, ‘Well, that will pay for even more frames for him’,” he said
“And that is one of the nicer ones. People need to take a step back and look at what people with disabilities are really going through on a daily basis.
“I’m not just talking about my case, or cerebral palsy cases in general, but anyone who is claiming for medical negligence or even benefits for their disability. The whole compensation process needs to speed up and I believe there is still a lot of discrimination against people with disabilities.
“It was a long and tough battle for us and continues to be for many other families. Any parent who has gone through what we have been through knows there is an element of post-traumatic stress.
“I have had lots of sleepless nights from it and a lot of things like money worries, while we try and fight the case and try and deal with everyday life.”
We were living in limbo for 14 years Father Oliver Spencer