§ PUBLISHED JUDGMENT · 2024
PXE (by his mother and litigation friend DSD) v University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
[2024] EWHC 2023 (KB)·High Court (King's Bench Division)·31 July 2024
The mother's recorded history of kidney scarring was said to require consultant-led care and serial growth scans, which were not arranged; the baby was born prematurely at Solihull Hospital with brain damage. The judge held that classifying the pregnancy as low risk was within acceptable practice in 2008, so there was no breach of duty.
Outcome
Claim failed
Sum stated in judgment
Not stated
Claim type
Birth Injuries
Decided
Liability decided at trial
§ WHAT HAPPENED
The facts, in brief.
Defendant: University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (formerly Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust) · this trust’s claims data
Injury: Periventricular leukomalacia and permanent brain damage from chronic fetal hypoxia and growth restriction before a premature birth in October 2008
Specialty: Obstetrics / antenatal care · England
§ WHAT THE COURT SAID
In the judgment’s own words.
“In this case a close analysis of the evidence reveals that there was no breach of the duty of care owed to the Claimant.”
The money
Liability trial; no breach of duty found, so no damages.
§ WHY IT MATTERS
What this case shows.
Antenatal risk-assessment claims turn on whether the mother's history genuinely required extra monitoring under the guidance of the time. Hindsight that scans might have helped is not the legal test.
Contains information licensed under the Open Justice - Licence v2.0. Judgments from Find Case Law, The National Archives. Summaries are ours; amounts only where printed in the judgment.
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