Suffering in quiet desperation may be the English way but, if you have suffered injury due to another’s negligence, you really should see a solicitor as soon as possible. In one extreme case, a man who has been disabled since birth won £250,000 in compensation from the NHS more than 40 years after his hospital delivery.
By the time the man’s mother contacted specialist lawyers, obstetric notes and other records of his birth in the 1970s had unsurprisingly been lost or destroyed. As a result, his legal team faced an uphill task in establishing that he had negligently been deprived of oxygen during his delivery.
Following negotiations, however, the Department of Health agreed to settle his case without making any admission of liability. He was well ensconced in a publicly funded care home and, although the award was only a fraction of the sum that he would have received on a full liability basis, it would be used to fund additional care.
In approving the settlement, the Court paid tribute to the man’s mother in seeking legal advice, and to his solicitors, who had achieved something remarkable in negotiating a substantial settlement in a case of such antiquity.