§ PUBLISHED JUDGMENT · 2019

EPX (A Child) v Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Trust

[2019] EWHC 1508 (QB)·High Court (Queen's Bench Division)·14 June 2019

A premature baby was sent home although a blood culture taken in hospital grew Group B strep; staff did not recall her and she developed meningitis with severe brain injury. The claim settled for a lump sum and annual payments; this reported judgment concerns a costs dispute, which the claimant lost.

Outcome

Claimant succeeded

Sum stated in judgment

£1,837,000

Claim type

Neonatal Injury

Decided

Appeal decision

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§ WHAT HAPPENED

The facts, in brief.

Defendant: Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Trust · this trust’s claims data

Injury: Extensive brain injury from Group B Streptococcus meningitis after a positive blood culture was not acted on

Specialty: Neonatology · England

§ WHAT THE COURT SAID

In the judgment’s own words.

“The claim was eventually settled for £1.837 million and annual periodical payments for care and case management in the sum of £204,000 per annum from December 2016 until December 2023, increasing to £230,504 per annum from December 2024 onwards.”

The money

Underlying claim settled for £1.837 million plus periodical payments of £204,000 a year (rising to £230,504 a year from December 2024). This published judgment is the claimant's unsuccessful appeal on the recoverability of a success fee and ATE premium.

§ WHY IT MATTERS

What this case shows.

Failing to act on a positive blood culture after discharge can lead to a multi-million-pound settlement. Note the published judgment is about costs, not the merits.

About neonatal injury claims →

§ MORE NEONATAL INJURY JUDGMENTS

Settlement approved£9.3M

MGS v University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust

[2023] EWHC 1547 (KB)·2023·Settlement approved by the court

A low-birth-weight baby was not fed adequately overnight and his blood sugar was not checked early enough, causing hypoglycaemic brain damage; the Trust admitted liability in 2018. The court approved a £9.3m lump sum plus periodical payments and held the Trust also owed interest for accepting the offer late.

Negligence in the first days of a newborn's life, not just during labour, can produce some of the largest clinical negligence awards. If a defendant accepts a Part 36 offer late, interest for the delay can be claimed on top.

Claim failed

Leggett v Norfolk, Suffolk & Cambridgshire Strategic Health Authority

[2006] EWHC 1238 (QB)·2006·Liability decided at trial

A baby born at 34 weeks developed severe jaundice; it was alleged doctors should have started an exchange transfusion sooner and that the laboratory should have phoned through a dangerously high bilirubin result. The judge found no breach in the doctors' decisions and, although the lab should have telephoned the result, concluded the damage could not have been prevented by then.

Neonatal jaundice claims depend on exactly when bilirubin reached a toxic level and whether earlier action could have prevented it. A proven communication failure still needs to be shown to have changed the outcome.

All neonatal injury 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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