£6m for brain damage at birth

A man who suffered severe brain damage as a result of hospital failures has received a settlement of more than £6m. He has cerebral palsy caused by oxygen starvation at birth. A lump sum of more than £2.75m plus annual payments was agreed. Initially, the health authority refused to admit liability for crucial delays in his delivery. However, in February 2009, a judge at the Royal Court of Justice found if he had been born just six minutes earlier he would have avoided the majority of his injuries. When the CTG trace showed an abnormal foetal heartbeat, midwives called for an obstetrician but he failed to attend and the midwives had to deliver him on their own.