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Man applying plaster to a child's arm

FFW wins substantial compensation for a disabled girl in clinical negligence claim arising out of paediatric care

  Clinical Negligence claim

Paul McNeil, a leading clinical negligence solicitor at Field Fisher Waterhouse won substantial compensation for Romy Smith.

This is how the Letchworth GC and Baldock Edition Comet reported the medical negligence case after the court gave judgement earlier this month.

Romy Smith was born prematurely at 29 weeks. She was given an excessive dose of the sugar dextrose at the Lister hospital when she was in special care and as a result suffered severe and permanent brain damage. This caused cerebral palsy, severe learning difficulties and autism. Her communication and social skills are very limited and she needs a constant care and she will remain totally dependent on carers for the rest of her life.

Romy’s mother, instructed Paul McNeil to bring the clinical negligence claim against the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust. The Trust had previously admitted liability and will pay Romy a lump sum of £2.36m and index-linked “periodical payments” to cover Romy’s lifetime care expenses. These will start at £96,000 a year, rising to £200,000 a year when she becomes 19. Exactly how much Romy will receive depends on her life expectancy as the annual payments are guaranteed for life.

Romy, now seven, “lives in a world of music” which is a means of communication for her. The payment will also cover the cost of music therapy.

Romy’s parents commented: "We are absolutely delighted at the settlement that Paul McNeil has secured for our daughter. Throughout the whole time that Paul has worked with us, we have found him to be very caring, extremely skilled and highly organised. He has kept our family's best interests at heart at all times and has always answered any concerns we may have had calmly, quickly and efficiently. We are enormously grateful to him for the way in which he conducted our case and we cannot praise him enough. We would not hesitate in recommending him to anyone."

 

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