28
Nov 2017
Jeremy Hunt unveils plans to halve the rate of newborn brain injuries, deaths and stillbirths by 2025
There are currently around 700,000 births in England each year and an estimated 1,000 of these result in babies unexpectedly dying or being left with severe brain injury.
The Health Secretary has said the NHS in England must work harder to reduce these numbers and to learn from mistakes, adding that all cases would now be independently investigated.
As part of the drive towards an improvement in care, the new Healthcare Safety Investigations Branch, which was set up earlier this year, will be tasked with automatically reviewing all cases of potentially avoidable harm.
Mr Hunt also conceded that there would need to be an increase in staffing numbers, adding that there were “not enough staff across the whole NHS” and there would be a major expansion in training places over the coming years.
There is currently an average of two claims each week being settled, each case costing potentially millions of pounds in lifetime provision and care for the injured babies.
The Royal College of Midwives have said that they believe the NHS in England is currently 3,000 midwives short of acceptable levels.
Gill Walton, general secretary of the RCM, said that she welcomed the measures and said that these low staffing levels were concerning.
Ms Walton added “The increasing complexity of women being cared for in our maternity services exacerbates this issue.
“We must ensure we have enough midwives and obstetricians to provide safe care throughout the maternity pathway and adequate facilities in all birth settings.”
Chadwick Lawrence’s team of medical negligence lawyers have years of experience in high value and complex medical negligence compensation claims and have an excellent record. The team is led by Tony May, a specialist cerebral palsy and birth injury solicitor, who has over 20 years experience in handling cases in which babies have been brain damaged or sustained other injuries as a result of medical negligence. He and his team continue to represent many cerebral palsy children and young adults in medical negligence claims. Tony also acts as the Court of Protection Deputy for many of the cerebral palsy and brain damaged clients that he has represented, so we can continue to support you after your case is settled. Tony can be contacted by email on tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk. Alternatively, please call and speak to any of Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist medical negligence Legal Aid and no win-no fee solicitors for free legal advice on the freephone number below.
Freephone: 0800 304 7382
For further information, please see our cerebral palsy and birth injury website:
http://www.cerebralpalsyclaimssolicitors.co.uk
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