By Jo Anderson. Last Updated 24th July 2023. If a medical professional breached their duty whilst you were giving birth, and this resulted in your child suffering with cerebral palsy, you may be able to make a cerebral palsy compensation claim.
Within this guide, we will discuss the duty of care all medical professionals owe their patients and when you may be eligible to make a cerebral palsy claim on behalf of your child. We will also explore the potential steps you could take and the evidence that could be collected to help support your medical negligence claim. We will also explain the different heads of claim that could be awarded should your case be successful, and how one of our No Win No Fee solicitors could help you with claiming compensation.
If you would like to receive free advice for your potential claim, or if you have any specific questions, you can contact our advisors. They are available 24/7 to help and can be reached via:
- Calling 0800 073 8801
- Using our live chat pop-up.
- Contacting us online.
Choose A Section
- An Overview Of Cerebral Palsy
- Cerebral Palsy Claims – Finding A Cerebral Palsy Solicitor
- What Steps Should You Take If Birth Injuries Caused Cerebral Palsy?
- How to Start Your Cerebral Palsy Compensation Claim
- What Could Be Included In Cerebral Palsy Compensation Claims?
- Birth Injury Compensation – Cerebral Palsy Negligence Claims
- Birth Injury Solicitors – No Win No Fee Birth Injury Claims
- Useful Links – Relating To Cerebral Palsy Medical Negligence Claims
An Overview Of Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is a neurological condition which affects the sufferer’s movement and coordination. It is a broad condition.
The range and severity of symptoms experienced by people with cerebral palsy may vary dramatically from patient to patient.
So for example some people with cerebral palsy may be able to walk independently, others may be unable to walk unassisted, and some may be dependant on a wheelchair. Cerebral palsy can also affect a person’s speech. In a minority of cases, people with cerebral palsy can also experience other disabilities such as learning difficulties, sight and hearing problems.
What could lead to cerebral palsy medical negligence claims?
The main causes of cerebral palsy is premature birth. Brain damage is second to this, with one in four hundred children born across the UK suffering from cerebral palsy due to this cause. The brain damage can happen during pregnancy, or birth. It could happen if the infant is deprived of oxygen during birth or as they are developing in the womb (hypoxia), a head trauma during birth or hypoxia. Sometimes this can be an unavoidable accident, other time the cerebral palsy is caused by clinical negligence, such as the doctors failing to spot distress or hypoxia in the infant or using the wrong tools.
If you believe you developed cerebral palsy due to medical negligence, or your child developed cerebral palsy due to medical negligence then contact Accident Claims UK to receive your free legal consultation. If you have a legitimate claim, you may be owed tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation.
Cerebral Palsy Claims – Finding A Cerebral Palsy Solicitor
You may be wondering what the average birth injury settlement for the UK is, however it is difficult to provide a definitive figure because each claim is unique.
A cerebral palsy solicitor can use different resources to calculate the value of your claim. Additionally, they can offer other services, such as:
- Assisting you in gathering sufficient and relevant evidence to support your claim
- Ensuring you put forward a complete and full claim
- Using their experience of handling cerebral palsy claims to guide you through the different stages of the claims process
If you choose to work with one of our solicitors, they could offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis. This typically allows you to access their services without paying upfront or while the claim is ongoing.
To learn more about how they could benefit your case, please get in touch on the number above.
What could be included in cerebral palsy compensation amounts?
What effect does cerebral palsy have on the life of the person with the condition? As we have already established cerebral palsy affects different people to varying degrees, and sufferers may experience a different range of symptoms. Some people with cerebral palsy can lead almost completely independent lives, others may require complete round the clock care and their home to be adapted. In extreme cases the person can also develop epilepsy as a result, which may result in seizures that can stop them breathing.
Whilst there is no reason why someone with epilepsy can’t pursue an education and a career, their condition can of course get in the way of their career and opportunities.
What Steps Should You Take If Birth Injuries Caused Cerebral Palsy?
I you are an adult who has cerebral palsy and your medical records will include a formal diagnosis of your condition and state the cause of your condition. For example, if it was a naturally occurring cause or an accident caused by negligent medical care or a case where medical negligence failed to prevent the accident from taking place. Your formal diagnosis and whether or not medical negligence caused or contributed to your cerebral palsy should be on your medical records. Similarly if you are a parent of a child or young adult with cerebral palsy, then you will be able to find evidence of their condition in the medical report.
If you have a young child such as a baby or a toddler who you believe may have cerebral palsy the first thing you need to do is obtain a formal diagnosis for your child. If your child is under 12 months of age, it may be difficult to obtain a formal diagnosis even if they are displaying symptoms of cerebral palsy. Usually cerebral palsy if diagnosed in children over 12 months of age. Once a child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, you can take them to a neurological specialist who will be able to determine is the condition was caused by brain damage (which could have been caused by clinical negligence) or other causes.
Examples
For example, if the scan shows that the brain is fully developed (so not damaged during gestation in the womb), but there are signs of trauma or damage this would indicate that the brain damage occurred during birth, which could have been the result of medical negligence.
If there is any evidence that negligence during the birth has caused the cerebral palsy, you could be entitled to make cerebral palsy medical negligence claims for tens or even thousands of pounds on your child’s behalf. Claiming cerebral palsy compensation isn’t about putting blame onto the medical team, it’s about claiming funds to help you care for your child as well as possible and fund any specialist equipment or treatment they may need to undergo in the future.
How to Start Your Cerebral Palsy Compensation Claim
Claiming compensation for cerebral palsy and clinical negligence can be a complicated and time consuming process. To make an effective and successful claim for cerebral palsy compensation, you need to hire an expert cerebral palsy solicitor to handle your claim. Hiring the right solicitor with the legal expertise and experience to handle your claim will ensure that you have the best possible chance of winning your claim. A skilled cerebral palsy solicitor will also understand what your claim is worth, so they can ensure that you are not low balled (intentionally offered a cerebral palsy compensation payout) which is too low.
Your cerebral palsy solicitor will also be able to arrange for any medical examinations or visits to a neurological specialist you or your child may be in need of, to obtain evidence.
At Accident Claims UK we understand that claiming compensation for cerebral palsy can be a stressful and upsetting experience, especially if you are the parent of a child whose condition has been recently caused by negligent clinical treatment. However, our advisors and solicitors are trained to help you in a supportive and sensitive way.
What Could Be Included In Cerebral Palsy Compensation Claims?
Successful payouts in cerebral palsy claims could include both general and special damages. Special damages aims to help you reclaim any financial losses that have taken place as a result of your injury. The figure these losses amount to is known as a special damages payment.
Here is a short list of examples of the losses that special damages could account for:
- Medical expenses – For example, this could cover the cost of prescription medication or, in some circumstances, private healthcare.
- Loss of earnings/future of loss earnings – If your health being affected has impacted your ability to work and therefore earn, then this loss could also be included. The amount can be backdated or even projected – for instance, in the event that you are never able to return to work due to your injury.
- Additional care costs – This could reimburse you and pay for future care at home if you require it as a result of your condition.
You need to be able to support these losses and expenditures in order to make a claim for special damages. For more examples of how you could be reimbursed, get in touch with our advisors today. They can discuss whether you could claim for cerebral palsy caused by medical negligence and what could be included in your claim.
Birth Injury Compensation – Cerebral Palsy Negligence Claims
Those considering making cerebral palsy negligence claims may wish to learn more about the birth injury compensation they could be due. The compensation you could receive may be made up of two different heads of claim.
The first head is known as general damages which compensates for pain and suffering of your injuries. The second is known as special damages which compensates for financial costs and losses caused by your injuries.
Courts and lawyers would need to take into account all the evidence and the circumstances of the case. They could also use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to assist them in working out an appropriate value for general damages. This is a publication that could assist with guiding compensation settlements for medical negligence cases in England and Wales.
We’ve illustrated some figures from this publication below. They could give you a rough idea of how much compensation could be appropriate for certain injuries.
| Injury or illness type | Severity | Settlement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cerebral Palsy | N/A | Settlements could range up to £15m | Settlement figures can be extremely high. |
| Brain injuries/ Damage | Very severe | £282,010 to £403,990 | At the higher end of the settlement range, the claimant may be able to do some things when asked. Compensation depends on how long they will live, how serious their injuries are and how conscious they are. |
| Brain injuries/ Damage | Moderatly severe | £219,070 to £282,010 | Claimant will suffer serious disability. they will be very dependant on other people for day-to-day care. Will need 24 hour care. Injuries may be physical or neurological. |
| Brain injuries/ Damage | Moderate | £150,110 to £219,070 | Less serious than above. They will be able to be more independant. |
| Brain injuries/ Damage | Moderate | £90,720 to £150,110 | Reduced ability to work or do other things. Potential for epilepsy to happen. |
| Brain injuries/ Damage | Moderate | £43,060 to £90,720 | Cases in which memory and ability to concentrate are affected, there is a reduced ability for employment, where there is a slight epilepsy risk and very limited dependence on other people. |
| Brain injuries/ Damage | Less severe | £15,320 to £43,060 | Claimant will make a reasonable recovery. |
| Head or brain injuries | Minor | £2,210 to £12,770 | Minimal brain injuries and damage. Settlement is based on severity of injuries, recovery time, and other symptoms, such as headaches |
If you’d like a personalised estimate of your compensation, however, please call our team. We could give you further insight into the damages you could claim. Plus, we could help you get started with a claim.
Birth Injury Solicitors – No Win No Fee Birth Injury Claims
If you’re looking for cerebral palsy solicitors to assist you in making birth injury claims, we could help. If we determine that you are eligible to claim, we could provide you with birth injury solicitors who could take on your claim under No Win No Fee terms.
No Win No Fee terms, such as a Conditional Fee Agreement, allow claimants to access the services of cerebral palsy solicitors without having to pay upfront, while the claim is ongoing or if the claim fails.
If the claim succeeds, birth injury solicitors will take a small portion of the compensation. This is usually referred to as a success fee and it is legally capped.
If you would like to ask us any questions about making No Win No Fee claims, we would be happy to help you. Please call our team, or alternatively, why not take a look at our guide to making No Win No Fee claims?
Useful Links Relating To Cerebral Palsy Medical Negligence Claims
You can discover more about medical negligence claims below:
- Learn all about medical negligence claims here
- Learn everything you need to know about birth injury claims here
- This guide talks you through stillbirth claims
- You can learn about making a retained placenta compensation claim here
- Check out our birth injury compensation calculator here
Thank you for reading about cerebral palsy medical negligence claims. Now, hopefully you have further insight into cerebral palsy compensation amounts, and know how we could assist with cerebral palsy claims.