Personal Injury Claims in Relation to Injured Children

If you’ve picked up a newspaper recently, you’ll be fully aware of the case involving the death of the young boy who was living in north London and is known in court and in the media as ‘Baby P’. The mother of the 17-month-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons due to age and privacy reasons (hence ‘Baby P’), has been convicted of causing or allowing his death by a jury at the Old Bailey. Two men – one of whom was the mother’s boyfriend - have also been convicted of causing or allowing his death.

This comes on the back of the case of Garcia v East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust in which a baby damaged at birth attempted to claim damages against the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust. In Garcia v East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust the court looked at what was the cause of the damage to the child and determined there was no negligence by the NHS trust concerned. Difficult cases such as this will rest on the medical evidence concerned.

Garcia v East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust helped bring attention to personal injury claims in regards to babies. There are a wide range of reasons as to why someone might make a personal injury claim, but few are as traumatic as when a baby dies or is injured at birth.

Although the case of the 17-month-old boy known as ‘Baby P’ was not a personal injury one, it did highlight that social services had not done as much for the child as it could have. Likewise, in Garcia v East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, attention was brought upon the idea that the hospital could have done more for the child, although in that particular case it was cleared of any wrongdoing. A damaged child will cost the parents considerable amounts of money to raise and where the hospital has been negligent a claim can be brought to help aid these costs. Although in the Garcia case, the connection between the action of the hospital and the damage was not found and the court determined that even if the child had been induced and the birth been earlier, the injury, which was a stroke, would still have occurred. In other cases a valid claim can be made as it is important that those responsible are called to account. The same applies if you are injured at work through the fault of an employer or in an accident whilst driving a car.

Many personal injury cases can be handled on a no-win, no-fee basis if you prefer and once liability is established the question of damages needs to be determined. There are many ways in which someone can suffer personal injury. It could be the result of a road traffic incident, accident at work or in a public place, or other accidental injury, and if you have suffered personal injury through the fault of others, you may be eligible for compensation. Even if you are not sure whether or not you have a valid claim, the best law firms will offer all initial consultations free of charge and without obligation. This will help clarify the options available and can put your mind at ease.

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