§ PUBLISHED JUDGMENT · 2024

DBH v North Lincolnshire And Goole NHS Foundation Trust

[2024] EWHC 2652 (KB)·High Court (King's Bench Division)·25 October 2024

A child with cerebral palsy from admitted birth negligence lived in an unsuitable house with stairs, and his family sought a large interim payment to buy and adapt a suitable home. The Master applied the Eeles test, was not satisfied with the evidence for a £2 million property, but approved an interim award based on a more conservative £950,000 valuation.

Outcome

Claimant succeeded

Sum stated in judgment

Not stated

Claim type

Cerebral Palsy

Decided

Damages assessed at trial

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§ WHAT HAPPENED

The facts, in brief.

Defendant: North Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust

Injury: Cerebral palsy (GMFCS III) from admitted negligence at birth in July 2020

Specialty: Obstetrics · England

§ WHAT THE COURT SAID

In the judgment’s own words.

“the value of the interim payment award down to £2,193,810.39”

The money

Interim payment application: the Master valued the interim award at £2,193,810.39 (90% of a conservative valuation), less £200,000 already paid. Final damages not yet assessed.

§ WHY IT MATTERS

What this case shows.

Interim payments for accommodation need comparative property evidence showing the price is reasonable. Courts will approve a conservative figure rather than the family's preferred one if the evidence is thin.

About cerebral palsy claims →

§ MORE CEREBRAL PALSY JUDGMENTS

Claim failed

LXLP v St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

[2026] EWHC 560 (KB)·2026·Liability decided at trial

A mother's waters broke at 27 weeks and a swab grew Group B Streptococcus resistant to erythromycin; the child argued penicillin should have been given before birth to prevent infection-related brain injury. The court held that following national rather than local guidance was not negligent and that antibiotics would not, on the evidence, have prevented the injury.

Following national guidance is a strong defence even where a hospital's own local guidance says otherwise. In premature-birth cases causation often fails because the injury would have happened regardless.

Claimant succeeded

CCC (by her mother and litigation friend MMM) v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

[2026] UKSC 5·2026·Appeal decision

A child left profoundly disabled by negligence at birth was refused 'lost years' damages for earnings she would have made in the years her injury cut from her life, because a 1982 Court of Appeal case barred such awards to young children. The Supreme Court (Lady Rose dissenting) overruled that rule and sent the case back for the lost-years loss to be assessed.

Claimants injured as young children whose life expectancy has been shortened can now claim for earnings in the 'lost years', on the same principles as adults. This can add substantially to catastrophic injury awards.

Claim failed

LMN (a protected party, by his mother and litigation friend PQR) v Swansea Bay University Health Board

[2025] EWHC 3402 (KB)·2025·Liability decided at trial

The claimant alleged the registrar at the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend, delayed delivery after a pathological CTG in a labour complicated by pre-eclampsia and an impacted fetal head. The judge found the plan of fetal blood sampling, attempted forceps and then caesarean met the standards of the day and dismissed the claim.

A poor outcome after a difficult delivery is not enough; the claimant must show specific decisions fell below acceptable practice at the time and that earlier action would have avoided the injury. The material contribution argument does not help if no negligent cause of delay is proved.

All cerebral palsy judgments →

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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