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Nyarko v Newham Primary Care Trust


[2003] EWHC 1687 (QB), [2003] All ER (D) 198 (Jul)


Court: QBD

Judgment Date: 11/07/2003






NEGLIGENCE - DUTY OF CARE - MEDICAL PRACTITIONER - LIABILITY FOR BIRTH INJURY

The proceedings concerned severe brain damage suffered by the claimant around the time of her birth at the defendant's hospital in September 1998. Her mother was admitted to hospital on 26 September. A CTG trace was commenced and, shortly afterwards, a spontaneous rupture of membranes and thick meconium was noted. After the claimant's head was delivered, the umbilical cord was loosely around the neck. It was clamped and cut. Normal delivery followed although the claimant was in a poor state. She was not breathing or moving. Various attempts to resuscitate her were made, but she did not breath spontaneously until about 28 minutes after birth. The defendant's expert agreed that the claimant should have been relatively easy to resuscitate in competent hands and that it would be unusual to find irreversible brain damage based on the CTG trace in the instant case. The defendants argued nevertheless that they were not liable, since the delayed arrival of a senior doctor had resulted from her being engaged on another emergency; that the less experienced staff had done their best and could not be reasonably criticised, and that the claimant had failed to prove that any individual in attendance had been negligent.
Held - On the evidence, the defendants had been negligent. There had been an incompetent attempt properly to resuscitate the claimant. There would therefore be judgment for the claimant.

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