£4 million compensation for cerebral palsy teenager

A teenager who has severe cerebral palsy is set to receive a £4 million compensation package.

The family of the 18-year-old, who cannot be identified, brought High Court proceedings over the management of her birth at Rochford Hospital, Essex, in September 1992.

Their counsel, Margaret Bowron QC, told Mr Justice Kenneth Parker in London that the teenager was left with "terribly serious disabilities".

She is wheelchair bound, lacks meaningful speech, has learning difficulties and will need full-time care for life.

Ms Bowron said that she wanted to put on record the "extraordinary efforts" of the teenager's mother who had given up her life to bringing up her daughter, with the support of the girl's elder brother.

"She is now welcoming assistance and has found a house to move into, so we are hoping that within a few months they will have a new home, a care package in place and the future will be as rosy as it can be in these difficult circumstances."

Counsel said that Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust had behaved "impeccably" and approached the litigation, which was launched last year, with "speed, good sense and great sensitivity".

The judge approved the "fair and reasonable" agreed settlement which involves a lump sum of £1.6 million and annual payments starting at £140,000 and rising to £175,000 as the teenager grows older.