Hospital blunder boy is in line for millions (From Malvern Gazette)

Hospital blunder boy is in line for millions

9:00am Saturday 23rd March 2013 in News

 THE future of a Malvern boy left facing a lifetime of care after being starved of oxygen during his birth at Worcestershire Royal Hospital has been secured after a court approved a multimillion pound settlement.

During his birth, Daniel Spencer, aged 11, of Barnards Green, was starved of oxygen, which left him with cerebral palsy and in need of 24- hour care.

A High Court Judge this week approved a motion to settle after agreeing midwives were slow to respond when mum Susan began bleeding during birth and also failed to call a doctor when his heart rate started fluctuating.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust offered to accept majority responsibility for Daniel’s injuries, which a judge approved during a settlement meeting atthe High Court in Birmingham onTuesday.

The trust accepted the ruling and was pleased the future for the Regency High School pupil is now secure.

Now, Daniel’s parents are hoping the judgement will be a major step in securing a care package which will guarantee his future rehabilitation and round-the-clock care.

Susan and Olly Spencer, who have three other children – Emily, aged nine, Charlotte, five, and Harry, 17 months, said they had worried about what the future held for their son.

“Today feels like a new beginning for him and gives us peace of mind no matter what happens in the future, he will always have access to the best possible care and support,” said Mr Spencer, a garden centre manager.

“We can concentrate on being a family of six together and try to make life as fun as possible for allthe children.

“We just hope the trust has learnt from what went wrong in the hope of preventing any other family from going through what we have.”

Mr Spencer said he went straight to midwives for help when his wife began bleeding during Daniel’s birth but it took about 10 minutes before anyone came to examine her.

“Even then there was no sense of urgency but we were completely in their hands and helpless,” he said.

“When we were told about Dan’s brain damage it was hard notto feel very angry but we focused all our efforts on providing for him and trying to give him the best quality of life possible.”

The couple’s lives revolve around making sure their son, who uses an electric wheelchair, has everything he needs.

Mr Spencer added: “Despite his brain injury Dan is an absolute joy to be around and his brother and sisters dote on him.

“He continues to amaze us every day with his positive personality and we’re so proud of everything he has achieved.”