A baby was dangerously starved of oxygen at Kingston Hospital after mistakes were made in his delivery, the High Court has heard.
Nicola Ricket’s son Alexander, now five, will need 24-hour-care for the rest of his life after being born with cerebral palsy in 2006.
The hospital apologised to the family and admitted Alexander should have been delivered earlier. It agreed to pay compensation at the High Court in London on Tuesday.
Speaking outside the court Mrs Ricket said: “Our lives have been turned upside down by the actions of the medical staff.
“Alexander is severely disabled and does not have any verbal communication skills; he will need 24hr care for the rest of his life and recently has started to suffer from seizures."
Mrs Rickets, who lives in New Malden with her husband Graham, suffered excruciating pain and bleeding during the birth.
His mother raised concerns, but it took took staff more than an hour before they carried out a caesarean, at which point her baby had been dangerously starved of oxygen.
The trust admitted he should have been delivered earlier, but denied that earlier delivery would have made a difference to his condition.
She said: “We welcome the apology delivered by the hospital’s lawyers in court today and only hope now that the trust acts fast to make sure my son’s care needs are provided for so that we can finally look to move forward with our lives.”
An investigation found that Kingston Hospital NHS Trust did not act within its guidelines by arranging an immediate delivery for Mrs Ricket, who had suffered a ruptured uterus.
Mrs Ricket is now warning that lessons should be learnt so that “no one else should suffer as we have”.
Jane Wilson, medical director at Kingston Hospital NHS Trust, said: "We are very sorry for what happened to Alexander and learnt important lessons from the shortcomings in the management of his birth in 2006.
“We would like to personally express our sincere apologies to Mr and Mrs Ricket and are pleased that an agreement was reached with regard to liability at a meeting between the parties and which was approved by the Court. We hope that compensation can be agreed quickly."
The family’s lawyer Anita Jewitt, from law firm Irwin Mitchell, Alexander's condition is so severe that he will never live independently and will rely on loved ones for 24 hour care for the rest of his life.
She said: "Following a difficult legal battle Mr and Mrs Ricket are delighted that, after more than five years, they now know that Alexander will have sufficient compensation to meet his significant future needs.
“We will now work with the trust in order to ensure Alexander has access to the funds he needs to live as comfortable and normal a life as possible in spite of his injuries.
"We hope this will be done as quickly as possible so that the family can finally begin to move forward with their lives.”
source: surreycomet.co.uk
Cerebral Palsy
