St Thomas' Hospital admits liability for serious delay in recognising baby's hypoglycaemia

Jane Weakley secured settlement of liability in relation to a neonatal hypoglycaemia case.

The claimant's parents had flown over from Hong Kong to deliver their baby in St Thomas' Hospital. The claimant, a baby boy, was born by emergency caesarean section in October 2020.

The claimant and his mother were discharged from hospital two days after the birth following reports that he was feeding well and had received appropriate care and advice.

The night following discharge, the father telephoned the hospital three times with his concerns that the baby was not waking for feeds. The father subsequently attended the hospital to ask for some formula milk where a midwife denied his request for a number of hours.

By the time the claimant's parents were advised to bring him back to hospital, the baby had become floppy and was in a condition of jitteriness - indicative of symptomatic hypoglycaemia, an abnormally low level of glucose. Subsequently, medical staff did not measure the glucose levels until two hours after arrival at hospital, despite this being a medical emergency. These tests revealed that the claimant was indeed hypoglycaemic.

This delay in providing appropriate treatment has resulted in the claimant having global development delay. At 2 years and 9 months, it is too early to assess his prognosis and likely future needs

The Trust's own internal investigation did not accept their own midwife's version of the content of telephone calls between her and the Claimant's worried father and accepted the father's account and that if he had been advised to bring the Claimant to hospital, he would have done so.

The Trust also accepted there was a delay in the claimant receiving treatment for his hypoglycaemia when he was eventually admitted.

An interim payment has been ordered on account of damages of £100,000 to meet the claimant's immediate needs while his lifelong needs are being assessed.

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For further information about birth injury claims and hospital negligence claims, please call Jane Weakley on 0330 460 6773 or email jane.weakley@fieldfisher.com.

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