The Hawkins family’s lives changed in April 2016, when baby Harriet was stillborn. It took five years for their case to go through the courts, resulting in a payout of £2.8 million pounds.
Jack Hawkins said:
‘It took the hospital a very long time, way longer than safe, to do a proper investigation into the incident.
‘In fact, they never did. It was done for them by another agency. They are eventually admitted liability.
‘And then after that, it took years to get compensation, years during which we weren’t working and were living on very little money.’
The Hawkins family is not alone.
Figures obtained by the BBC show more than 130 claims for obstetrics in Nottingham since 2006, cost the trust over £100 million pounds, including £16 million in legal fees.
Payouts for stillbirths accounted for £4.6 million of that. But more than half of the money, £50 million pounds, has gone to families whose children were left with cerebral palsy. That’s a lifelong condition that affects a child’s development, movement and coordination. Many of them can’t be identified to protect the children involved.
