News
04 January 2012
Discrimination against people with disabilities
The Guardian reports today that the NHS is accused of causing or contributing to the deaths of at least 74 patients with a learning disability because of poor care that reveals enduring "institutional discrimination" against people with disabilities among doctors and nurses.
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12 December 2011
Disability Living Allowance reversal
The Times has reported that the government is set to reverse its decision to scrap the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance for people in residential care.
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28 November 2011
Key changes to the Government’s Motability Scheme
The Government has announced key changes to its Mobility Scheme which will have a significant impact on disabled drivers.
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11 October 2011
Scope assesses the impact of cuts in local disability services
A new report from Scope and think tank Demos ranks council's provision of local disability services following the recent spending cuts.
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02 September 2011
Disability benefits face axe
Disability charity Scope criticises plans to reduce the Disability Living Allowance which assists disabled people to live a normal life.
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05 July 2011
Brain damage baby claims difficult to prove
Due to their complex nature, a number of cerebral palsy compensation settlements are agreed at a percentage of their full value.
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22 June 2011
Goodbye to legal aid
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has today confirmed that it will bring forward legislation immediately for the abolition of legal aid for clinical (i.e. medical) negligence cases.
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15 June 2011
Legal Aid for medical negligence claims
According to a recent parliamentary answer, the NHS now pays out annually more than £1billion in compensation payments, including costs, following mistakes made by doctors and nurses.
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20 April 2011
Protect Legal Aid in the UK - sign the petition
Boyes Turner supports The Law Society's campaign to defend access to justice. Their Sound Off For Justice campaign continues to gather momentum with over 4,500 people having already signed the petition, which will be sent to Ken Clarke.
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20 April 2011
Legal Aid abolition
Boyes Turner acts for almost all of its clinical negligence brain injured clients with the benefit of legal aid. These cases are very complex and require extensive and very expensive medical expert evidence to establish. The Government is proposing to abolish legal aid for this type of work, please sign the petition to prevent this from happening.
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14 April 2011
Obstetric and midwifery negligence
The Guardian has recently reported that the NHS is facing a spiralling bill for blunders made by maternity-unit staff during labour that result in a baby dying or suffering brain damage or disability.
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03 April 2011
A crisis in midwifery? Birth injury and baby death claims on the rise
According to a report by the Centre for Maternal and Child Enquiries recently published, 14 NHS trusts have significantly raised baby death rates which are up to twice the national average.
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25 February 2011
Legal aid for clinical negligence
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) received 5000 submissions in response to its Green Paper proposing the abolition of legal aid for clinical negligence (as well as other) cases. Despite the volume of submissions the MOJ aims to issue its response by Easter.
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17 January 2011
Compensation for boy, 8, suffocated at birth
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS trust is to pay out £6million after a mother was given a drug which suffocated her baby during labour at the Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn in 2002.
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05 January 2011
Hospitals providing inferior obstetric care at night
One of Britain’s top maternity doctors reveals ‘huge concern’ over inexperienced NHS staff making poor decisions when women give birth at night. Dr Falconer has warned that mothers get an inferior service from the NHS when they give birth at night because junior staff on duty then make poor decisions about their care.
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23 December 2010
Family of eight year old girl with cerebral palsy awarded £9 million compensation
The family of eight year old Amy Smith have been awarded £9 million in compensation from the NHS after she suffered brain damage during a late birth. Her family say “no amount of money can replace what she has lost.”
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02 December 2010
The Care Quality Commission review maternity services in England
Care Quality Commission has recently carried out a survey looking at women’s experiences of maternity care in England. In order to take part in the survey, women had to be aged 16 or over, received care from the 144 NHS Trusts in England and who had either given birth in a hospital, birth centre, maternity unit of at home.
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18 November 2010
NHS Litigation Authority report - midwives at higher risk of obstetric negligence claims
NHS research suggests that midwives are more likely to be involved in negligence cases than frontline hospital staff working in other areas.
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17 November 2010
Government's proposals to reform of legal aid and civil litigation funding and costs
If implemented these proposals will spell the end to Legal Aid for medical negligence cases and means victims of negligence will no longer be able to retain all of the compensation to which they are entitled by law.
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27 October 2010
NHS wastes £2.6 million whilst brain damaged and disabled patients suffer funding cuts
Outrage - the disabled and brain damaged suffer welfare and funding cuts whilst the NHS continues to waste millions.
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24 October 2010
Welfare Spending Cuts - How will the sick and disabled be affected?
The government’s new four year spending plans will mean one million sick and disabled people who are struggling to find jobs will lose thousands of pounds in benefits a year, forcing many back into work. Here we look at how you may be affected.
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13 October 2010
Birth injury negligence claims on the rise
Medical negligence relating to the care of newborn babies cost the taxpayer an estimated £4 billion in compensation payments over the past 15 years and the situation appears to be getting worse.
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27 September 2010
Erb's Palsy Claim - £45k medical negligence compensation
An eight-year-old girl has received £450k for injuries to her left brachial plexus sustained during her delivery.
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01 September 2010
NHS obstetric services 'in crisis'
Despite receiving record funding and having achieved a surplus of £1.7 billion in 2007-08, the share of the NHS budget spent on maternity services has fallen from 3 per cent to 2 per cent since 1997 and obstetric services are now in crisis.
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01 September 2010
Cerebral Palsy claim against Rochford Hospital, Essex
An 18 year old girl has been awarded £4 million in compensation in a cerebral palsy claim against an Essex hospital.
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04 August 2010
Cerebral palsy claims arising from home births
An editorial in this week's medical journal The Lancet on home births says that while a woman has the right to choose where and how to give birth, she does not have the right to put her baby at risk.
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13 July 2010
Research suggests cooling treatment can reduce baby brain damage
Babies who have been starved of oxygen at birth have much less risk of suffering brain damage if they are given mild hypothermia.
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05 July 2010
Scope launches new web based evaluation tool
Celebrate Every Step is an exciting new web-based tool from Scope that will enable practitioners and parents to celebrate and track the progress of young children with physical, sensory and learning needs.
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29 June 2010
Cerebral Palsy compensation - £4 million payout for 6yr old girl starved of oxygen at birth
A six-year-old Kidderminster girl has been awarded a £4 million compensation payout after complications during her birth left her severely disabled.
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20 June 2010
Paul Maynard - the first MP with cerebral palsy to be elected to the Houses of Parliament
Boyes Turner extends warm congratulations to Paul Maynard the new MP for Blackpool North who we believe is the first MP with cerebral palsy to be elected to the Houses of Parliament. He writes an interesting article about the election, his CP and his thoughts about disability and making a difference in the June edition of 'Disability Now'.
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06 May 2010
Family of tetraplegic cerebral palsy sufferer secures over £6 million in compensation
The family of a girl who suffers from tetraplegic cerebral palsy as a result of mistakes made during her birth has been awarded in excess of £6 million in compensation.
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06 May 2010
Cerebral Palsy Baby - Parents "robbed of the baby we should have had"
As little Ruby Hanson celebrates her first birthday today, her parents are coming to terms with the cerebral palsy they believe was the result of medical negligence when she was born at North Devon District Hospital.
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06 May 2010
Parents awarded compensation after son born with cerebral palsy after hospital error
A mother whose son was starved of oxygen at birth leaving him disabled has been granted compensation to pay for his care.
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03 May 2010
Significant cerebral palsy compensation payout for girl
A five year old girl left severely disabled because of alleged failings at birth has received a seven figure payout in damages. She requires round-the-clock care after oxygen starvation in the womb left her with cerebral palsy.
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29 April 2010
Judgment secured against Leeds General Infirmary following traumatic birth injury
In April 2010 specialist cerebral palsy solicitor Adrian Desmond from Reading based law firm Boyes Turner secured Judgment against Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for damages to be assessed in favour of a 5-year old child who suffered suffered a left-sided hemiplegia at his birth in 2004.
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28 April 2010
Cerebral palsy teenager disabled at birth is awarded £6.5 million in compensation
A young girl, now aged 15 was starved of oxygen during her birth resulting in severe cerebral palsy. She is unable to talk or walk without help and requires round-the-clock care. She sustained her injuries at Bridgend's Princess of Wales Hospital.
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27 April 2010
Cerebral Palsy Claim - disabled girl's £7m compensation payout from NHS
A disabled girl who was starved of oxygen at birth has been awarded up to £7 million in compensation from the NHS.
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15 March 2010
Adrian Desmond secures Judgment against hospital
Specialist cerebral palsy lawyer Adrian Desmond acted for a boy whose dystonic cerebral palsy was caused by negligence of the doctors and midwives before his delivery.
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03 February 2010
Cerebral Palsy Claim - £5.6m compensation payout for brain damaged girl
A girl who was starved of oxygen at birth and suffered severe brain damage, has been awarded £5.6m compensation.
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29 January 2010
Judgment secured against Northwick Park Hospital
On 13 January 2010, specialist cerebral palsy lawyer Adrian Desmond from Boyes Turner secured judgment against Northwick Park Hospital in North West London for damages to be assessed in favour of a 5 year old girl who was delivered at the hospital in 2004.
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18 January 2010
Lord Justice Jackson’s Review of Civil Litigation Costs
Lord Justice Jackson's recommendations about legal costs in his report published last week attack, as predicted, the soft target of personal injury claimants.
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26 November 2009
Ordeal of mums left alone in labour 'due to a midwives shortage'
Mothers have attacked NHS maternity care with more than one in three saying they were left alone and distressed during labour.
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02 November 2009
Common misspellings of 'cerebral palsy'
People often spell the words cerebral palsy incorrectly.
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27 October 2009
SCOPE is successful in fight to save disability living allowance
UK Disability charity SCOPE have been victorious in their campaign to save Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance.
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10 September 2009
How do couples support each other during and after a traumatic birth?
A research project at University College London is looking at how couples try to help each other through a traumatic birth and the post-traumatic difficulties that can develop afterwards.
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25 August 2009
Boyes Turner launches seven major birth injury cerebral palsy claims this summer
Specialist cerebral palsy and birth injury lawyers at Boyes Turner launch seven claims this summer.
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13 May 2009
Cerebral Palsy sufferer allowed to proceed with medical negligence claim
A case has recently been reported about a man who was entitled to proceed with his claim for damages against a health authority some time after the statutory limitation period
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23 April 2009
AvMA calls for Government to make new law for medical negligence
Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA - the charity for patient safety & justice) has launched a campaign for the introduction of a legal duty of candour in healthcare in the UK.
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13 April 2009
Celebrity footballer helps raise awareness of cerebral palsy
BBC News has reported on the benefits of high profile celebrity footballer Phil Neville in helping to raise awareness of cerebral palsy and bring it under the public spotlight.
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09 February 2009
High Court approves £1.5 million compensation settlement for 24 year old
24 year old Sarah Hamblin's cerebral palsy was caused by hospital negligence at the time of her birth at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading. Today the High Court approved a compensation settlement of £1.5 million.
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05 December 2008
£4.89 million in compensation for family of child with cerebral palsy
Boyes Turner medical negligence lawyer Adrian Desmond recovered £4.89 million in compensation for a baby and his family after hospital staff negligence caused the baby severe cerebral palsy.
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30 October 2008
Cerebral Palsy compensation claim against NHS trust negligent system failure
In the recent and successful cerebral palsy compensation claim case of Stephen Lorraine v Wirral University Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, it was found that a negligent system failure on the part of the NHS trust caused claimant's cerebral palsy.
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26 August 2008
Maximum severity cerebral palsy compensation claim - over-21 age limit ignored
The High Court has used its discretion to allow a man with maximum severity cerebral palsy to sue the hospital he was born at, even though at over 21 years of age he is technically out of time. Medical negligence lawyer Adrian Desmond comments.
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30 July 2008
NHS increases chance of death for people with learning disabilities
People with learning disabilities such as those with maximum severity cerebral palsy are more likely to suffer avoidable ill health and premature death when using the NHS.
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14 April 2008
Cerebral Palsy Compensation Claims - grandparents often initiate investigations
Of the 135 or so families that contacted Boyes Turner in 2007 who have a family member with cerebral palsy, over 30 came from the grandparent of the child. Does this suggest that parents can be reluctant to initiate a claim for their child?
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26 March 2008
Medical negligence at birth - nurse struck off
Medical News Today has reported that two midwives have been found unfit to practise by an independent Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel this week after failing to adequately care for a 'high risk' patient during labour. Leading medical negligence lawyer Adrian Desmond comments.
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05 March 2008
Failure - maternity units - variable quality of care
The Healthcare Commission has launched a new website enabling pregnant women and their families to see details of the quality of care provided by their maternity services.
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29 February 2008
Hospital medical negligence - nurse falsifying records
Mrs Victoria Galang was employed at St Georges Nursing Home in Wigan when in August 2006 she made false entries in the record of a patient indicating she had provided care when she had not done so.
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12 February 2008
Cerebral palsy children botox worry
Botox in cosmetic and medical procedures linked with 16 deaths US federal regulators investigating along with a series of other cases needing hospital treatment.
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25 January 2008
Cerebral palsy and oxygen starvation birth injuries - London maternity service
The most comprehensive review ever of UK maternity services was published today (Friday 25th January).
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14 January 2008
Hospital administration negligence putting lives at risk
A survey undertaken by the National Audit Committee (NOA) found that care for premature babies in England is being compromised by a shortage of nurses and overcrowded special units. Serious problems were found in the way care is organised and provided in spite of improvements made following a review by the Department of Heath in 2003.
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15 November 2007
Cerebral Palsy - The Disabled Children (Family Support) Bill 2007
The Disabled Children (Family Support) Bill 2007, if it became law, would ensure a specific duty is placed on local authorities to provide short break care for families with disabled children.
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08 November 2007
Cerebral palsy - Mental Capacity Act 2005 and changes to the Court of Protection
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17 October 2007
Maternity units pay extra premium for medical negligence
A dozen NHS maternity units are charged an extra premium to be part of the government’s medical insurance scheme because of large claims in the past, documents have revealed.
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08 October 2007
Will hysterectomy give cerebral palsy girl a better life?
The mother of a fifteen year old girl with cerebral palsy wants the disabled teenager to have a hysterectomy so that she doesn’t have to suffer the “pain, discomfort and indignity” of menstruation, according to an article in The Times on Monday 8 October, 2007.
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18 August 2007
Cerebral palsy children have similar quality of life as their healthy peers
According researchers in a new study, and reported in online magazine Medical News Today, if they are not in pain, 8-12 year-old children with cerebral palsy seem to feel just as happy as healthy children of the same age.
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12 August 2007
Cerebral palsy - parents of disabled children face poverty
According to an article published in July’s edition of ‘Disability Now’ magazine, parents of disabled children, includign those with cerebral palsy are 50% more likely than parents of children who are not disabled, to be in debt.
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29 April 2007
Oxygen starvation claim - 1.25m compensation for birth injury
23 year old Tom suffers from a severe form of short term memory impairment caused by a likely starvation of oxygen during his birth. This has left him unable to organise his life and day to day activities without assistance and he is also financially dependent.
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27 April 2007
Greater rights and freedoms to disabled people
From 30 March, human rights will be recognised for disabled people worldwide.
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30 March 2007
Cerebral palsy - Mental Capacity Act 2005
The Department of Health introduce a new Independent Mental Capacity Advocate service.
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02 March 2007
Cerebral palsy - respite care
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30 January 2007
The Ashley X Treatment - Help Scope (the cerebral palsy charity)
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30 December 2006
Cerebral palsy - services for disabled children
Tom Clarke MP, chair of a cross-party group reports.
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20 December 2006
Cerebral palsy - does the UK have a compensation culture?
View the Government figures for the last five years.
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20 November 2006
Cerebral palsy claim - lump sum or periodical payment?
Which approach is most beneficial for the child?
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