£2m award for boy disabled at birth

Apr 3 2008 by Paul James, The Journal

A MOTHER who says her son was born disabled because of a six-hour delay in transferring her to a general hospital during labour received £2m compensation yesterday.

Bailey Brown is wheelchair-bound with cerebral palsy because he was starved of oxygen before birth in February 2003.

His mother Amy Millar, of Embleton, Northumberland, was just 15 at the time and was initially admitted to Hillcrest maternity unit at Alnwick.

Lawyers for the family said Alnwick’s maternity unit was unsuitable for delivering Bailey, given his mother’s youth, his unusually large size and his difficult position in the womb.

Ms Millar was transferred to Ashington’s Wansbeck Hospital, where Bailey was born, but her solicitors Irwin Mitchell said the delay of more than six hours was critical and she should have been referred to Wansbeck much sooner.

Though Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has not admitted liability – arguing that the correct information was given to Ms Millar and that the transfer was carried out in a timely manner – the trust yesterday agreed at the High Court in Newcastle to pay the family £2m.

Ms Millar, now 21, said the settlement meant Bailey would have the correct care and support for the rest of his life and thanked his father Gareth Brown for supporting them in Bailey’s first five years.

She said: “Bailey has bad epilepsy and his cerebral palsy means he cannot get around on his own.

“He can feed himself, but needs help from someone for almost everything else.

“Luckily the whole family has pulled round to help – we have really stuck together and the experience has made everybody stronger. If we didn’t have all this support, I don’t know what we’d have done.

“Now we have funding in place for when Bailey gets older. He is already a big five-year-old … As he gets older, he will need greater levels of support. This settlement will make his life better and easier.”

Irwin Mitchell partner Angela Curran said: “There is no doubt in our minds that his long-term health was catastrophically affected as a result of the lack of advice given and the critical delay in transferring Amy Millar to a better-equipped facility.

“We are delighted with the size of the compromise settlement despite there being no admission of liability. It will ensure he has the correct care, support and equipment as he grows and his needs change.”

Ms Millar said: “I was 15 when I had him and, particularly at that age, you just put your trust completely in those that are looking after you.

“But mistakes were made and Bailey was damaged. He stayed in hospital for another 10 months after he was born, but I was still at school and it was a lot to take on.”

In a statement, the foundation trust said: “Whilst there is no admission of liability, the trust is pleased that an out of court settlement has been agreed on behalf of Bailey.

“It is hoped that the settlement, now it has been approved by the court, will go some way to securing Bailey’s future and improving his and his family’s quality of life.

“The trust would like to pay tribute to the extraordinary care and devotion provided to Bailey by his mother and her family and wish them well for the future.”

The trust refers mothers who need more medical support for a birth from the midwife-led maternity units at Alnwick, Berwick, Hexham and North Tyneside to Wansbeck.

Regional head of health at Unison, Liz Twist, said: “For most women, being supported through the pregnancy and the birth by a midwife is the best and the most suitable provision.

“What we do need to do is make sure there are adequate facilities for people to be immediately referred to consultants where medical intervention is necessary.

“In rural Northumberland that is especially important.”