Glasgow childbirth errors compensation bill

The health board said 100 additional claims were settled in the last year with £27million paid out to claimants.

One childbirth-related claim accounted for more than half of the total paid out and a £16 million settlement was awarded this year.

NHS GGC declined to provide any information about the cases citing patient confidentiality.

Official documents show the board is dealing with 450 ‘open claims’ that are still to be settled or dismissed.

Some of the most serious adverse childbirth events can include uterine rupture, a rare event in which the wall or lining of the mother’s uterus tears open. This leaves the unborn baby at immediate risk of oxygen deprivation and an emergency caesarean section is normally required.

Another emergency complication during labour is prolapse of the umbilical cord, which occurs when the cord drops down into the cervical opening first and ends up in front of the baby as it enters the birth canal which can restrict or even completely cut off the baby’s oxygen supply from the mother.

The neurological condition cerebral palsy is caused by a specific type of damage to the brain that is usually suffered during a traumatic or difficult childbirth. 

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Childbirth risks for mothers include post-partum haemorrhage, which can occur as a result of prolonged labour or pre-eclampsia, which causes high blood pressure during pregnancy.

NHS GGC said the £280 million sum was the estimated notional value of the claims “on the hypothesis that they are all successful” and said the true figure was always substantially lower.

The legal claims were disclosed during a recent meeting of the board’s corporate risk register.

Earlier this month a nine-year old boy from Dublin was awarded an interim payment of €1.5m after claiming a rare pregnancy complication was allegedly not diagnosed when his mother had an ultrasound scan in hospital.

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Ricci Meehan’s mother appealed to hospitals and maternity units to now routinely screen at the 20- week scan for Vasa praevia,  a rare complication during pregnancy where some of the blood vessels that connect the umbilical cord lie over or near the entrance to the birth canal.

She said her son, who is neurologically impaired, had to be resuscitated.

The settlement against the Rotunda Hospital is without an admission of liability.

Ruth Kelliher, partner and head of clinical negligence at Digby Brown Solicitors said proving that clinical negligence has occurred is “incredibly difficult.”

She said: “When does a complex medical situation move from tragic circumstances to failures, indeed faults, where someone or a system is to blame. 

“Unlike most legal matters involving personal injury where fault can generally be more easily established, with clinical negligence claims he bar is set somewhat higher. 

“In clinical negligence claims four matters require to be proven: there is a usual and normal practice; a medical professional has not adopted that practice and; the action taken is something which no professional person of ordinary skill would have done. 

“It is then also necessary to prove that it was the negligence, rather than any other cause, which was responsible for the adverse outcome. 

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“In cases involving birth injuries establishing the facts, establishing the sequence of events that occurred prior to the actions that took place which caused the injury and finally establishing that, in the heat of the moment, no other professional would not have taken the same course of action, is extremely difficult. 

“However, from a legal perspective, not impossible and where these tragic circumstances occur it is important to establish what happened and in many cases the only way to do this is to follow the NHS Complaints procedure and as a last resort seek legal help.”

NHS GGC is separately handling 28 civil claims in connection with treatment at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where “serious failings” have been linked to a string of avoidable deaths.

The claims have been “sisted” - or put on hold - pending the public inquiry that was ordered after the deaths of two adults and a child from infections at the hospital linked to the water supply.

Police Scotland have also launched a  criminal investigation into four deaths at the QEUH and RHC – including that of a 10-year-old girl.

Kimberley Darroch, the mum of Milly Main who died while receiving cancer treatment in 2017, is among those to launch legal action against the health board.

A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “We are unable to discuss the details of live or settled claims further than what is included within the report due to the need to protect claimant confidentiality.”