§ PUBLISHED JUDGMENT · 2020

Pearce v East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust

[2020] EWHC 1504 (QB)·High Court (Queen's Bench Division)·11 June 2020

A baby born breech by caesarean should have had a hip ultrasound within six weeks, but the appointment was not arranged until nine weeks and, after rescheduling, the scan at 17 weeks showed hip dysplasia in both hips, needing surgery. The Trust admitted breach but, shortly before trial, sought to blame the mother's missed appointment; the judge refused the late amendment.

Outcome

Mixed outcome

Sum stated in judgment

Not stated

Claim type

Neonatal Injury

Decided

Liability decided at trial

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§ WHAT HAPPENED

The facts, in brief.

Defendant: East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust · this trust’s claims data

Injury: Bilateral developmental hip dysplasia diagnosed late, requiring surgery to both hips at about one year old

Specialty: Paediatric orthopaedics / neonatal screening · England

§ WHAT THE COURT SAID

In the judgment’s own words.

“I refuse to allow the Defendant to make the amendment sought.”
[2020] EWHC 1504 (QB) at [22] · read the full judgment

The money

Breach of duty admitted by the Trust (hip ultrasound not arranged within the six-week protocol). This ruling refused the Trust permission to add a late causation defence; the trial outcome is not in this judgment.

§ WHY IT MATTERS

What this case shows.

Babies born breech need a timely hip scan, and a trust's failure to arrange one within its own protocol was admitted as negligent. Defendants cannot raise new causation arguments on the eve of trial without good reason.

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.

Claimant succeeded£1.84M

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

[2019] EWHC 1508 (QB)·2019·Appeal decision

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.

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.

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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