When negligent maternity or neonatal care in England or Wales causes a child to suffer permanent disability, they have a right to claim compensation under English law. The same rights apply where the child was injured by negligent care which took place abroad but under English jurisdiction, such as where the baby was born at an MOD military hospital. In these circumstances, the child’s right to claim is not affected by where they live or their nationality.
Where the child and their family reside in another country, but their birth injury took place in England or Wales, they can still claim for their child’s birth injury disability, but the compensation that they can claim will be based on the costs of meeting their child’s additional needs in their country of residence.
Boyes Turner’s birth injury and neonatal brain injury specialist solicitors are experienced in recovering compensation for severely-disabled children who were injured in England or Wales but now live abroad. Our proven skill and expertise in international birth injury cases has resulted in life-changing compensation settlements for clients living in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere.
Where the child’s injury took place abroad, but they now live in the UK, we can provide specialist valuation of the claim, based on the costs of meeting the child’s lifelong needs in the UK.
Does a child need a specialist solicitor for their UK birth injury claim if they don’t live in England or Wales?
If your child’s cerebral palsy or neurodevelopmental disability was caused by negligent maternity or neonatal care in England or Wales, but your child and family live abroad, you will need a specialist solicitor with expertise in international birth injury or neonatal brain injury claims to ensure that your child receives the full compensation that they deserve.
Birth injury and neonatal brain injury medical negligence claims always require specialist handling by experienced birth injury solicitors to achieve the best outcome for the child. However, to ensure that the child’s compensation adequately provides for their care, therapies, accommodation, educational and other disability-related needs in a foreign country, the child’s solicitor must also have the necessary specialist skills and experience to successfully navigate the legal, practical and financial complexities of an international birth or neonatal brain injury claim. This is because the practicalities and costs of meeting the child’s additional needs throughout their life will be affected by the local laws, regulations and practices in their country of residence. Their solicitor must also be able to protect their interests under the laws which govern the country where the injury occurred and the child and family’s country of residence.
The additional complexity of an international birth injury claim can be a pitfall for the inexperienced lawyer, with the risk of under-compensation for their injured client.
How does the injured child’s foreign country of residence affect the valuation of their UK-based birth injury claim?
Where a child suffered a birth injury or neonatal brain injury in England or Wales but resides in another country, each aspect of their claim, such as for the cost of meeting their needs for care, education, medical treatment and therapies, accommodation, specialist equipment and educational support, must also account for the practical and financial differences relating to the provision of each claimed item in the child’s country of residence.
For example, the valuation of the child’s claim may be affected by their local:
- quality, availability and cost of healthcare;
- quality, availability and cost of therapies, such as physiotherapy, speech therapy or OT;
- regulations relating to carers, such as manual handling regulations;
- availability and cost of specialist equipment;
- quality, availability and cost of meeting special educational needs;
- employment market;
- financial issues, such as currency exchange, taxation, disability and other state-funded benefits;
- ways of managing, investing and protecting compensation funds.
What compensation can I claim for a disabled child in an international birth injury claim?
Each child’s compensation depends on their injury and its impact on their life. Their claim will include sums to compensate for their financial losses and the costs of meeting their additional needs arising from their disability. In a UK-based birth injury claim for a child living abroad, compliance with the laws, regulations and practises of their country of residence will also affect the valuation of the claim. As with all complex claims, the child is more likely to recover their full entitlement to compensation if represented by specialist lawyers with proven expertise and experience in international birth injury, neonatal injury and cerebral palsy claims.
Boyes Turner’s birth injury specialists have helped children with cerebral palsy and other types of neurodevelopmental disability claim compensation for:
- pain, suffering and disability;
- care and case management;
- extra costs of suitable accommodation;
- loss of earnings and pension, including lost years;
- specialist equipment and aids;
- healthcare and medical treatment costs;
- therapies, (physiotherapy/physical therapy, occupational therapy/OT, speech and language therapy, hydrotherapy);
- IT and assistive technology;
- travel costs, adapted vehicles, mobility aids;
- support with special educational needs;
- Court of Protection deputyship, trusteeship or international equivalent;
- financial loss arising from impact of taxation, currency exchange, investment costs, benefits etc.
Recent cases
Our successful claims for overseas-resident clients with cerebral palsy and neurodevelopmental disability from birth injury and neonatal brain injury include:
- $45 million settlement for a young woman with cerebral palsy from HIE birth injury who now lives in New Zealand, in the reported case of CNZ -v- Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust;
- $23 million settlement in a neonatal kernicterus brain injury claim for a child who resides with his family in New York;
- $20+ million settlement in an international cerebral palsy claim for an overseas resident whose brain was injured as a result of negligent maternity care at a London hospital;
- £13 million settlement in a claim for a client with permanent neurological disability from NHS maternity care, complicated by temporary relocation to Australia;
- Multi-million dollar settlement for a boy who now lives abroad but has cerebral palsy disability from a birth injury at a London hospital.
If your child has cerebral palsy or neurological disability as a result of medical negligence, or you have been contacted by HSSIB/MNSI or NHS Resolution, you can talk to a solicitor, free and confidentially, for advice about how to respond or make a claim by contacting us.
Written by
Susan Brown
Susan leads the medical negligence team and is recognised as a leading lawyer in the UK, specialising in high value brain injury and cerebral palsy cases.
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