A 12-YEAR-OLD girl left with brain damage after she was starved of oxygen at birth at Bradford Royal Infirmary has been awarded £8 million compensation to provide lifetime care.

But it was only when the family’s legal team managed to obtain a transcript of a conversation between her mother and the ambulance crew on the night she was admitted in labour that Bradford Hospitals Trust was willing to negotiate.

Until that point, they had insisted that they were not at fault, said the girl’s lawyer Jane McBennett, of Morrish Solicitors.

Shortly before the liability issue was due to be tried at the High Court, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust put forward an offer and settlement negotiations were agreed on the basis that it accepted that it was 80 per cent to blame for the injuries which left the girl, who cannot be named, with cerebral palsy.

Under the terms of the settlement she will get a lump sum of £2.2m plus annual payments of £80,000, rising to £148,000 after she reaches the age of 19 to help maximise her quality of life.

Ms McBennett said: “The claim arose from very serious brain injuries suffered at the time of the birth, which caused the girl to suffer from cerebral palsy.

“This affects all four of her limbs. She has no independent mobility and requires full-time round the clock care. She also suffers from epilepsy, has learning difficulties and has to be fed through a gastronomy tube into her tummy.

“She now lives with her grandparents and the size of the settlement means that the family can now purchase a bungalow and adapt it.

“They can now enjoy taking her out more easily in a vehicle suitable for her wheelchair and have lots of family days out by the seaside, which she loves.

“The annual payments will give the family the security of knowing that their granddaughter will have the money she needs to pay for good quality care once they are no longer able to provide this.

“The fund also gives them access to the many exciting developments in technology that help the severely disabled connect with the world around them.

“Specially modified computers work by recognising eye gaze and it is even possible to control a wheelchair in this way.”

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Ms McBennett said the Bradford family had “a tough” 12-year battle against the hospital trust until the legal team was able to obtain the transcript – which showed that the ambulance service had been so worried about the mother’s bleeding on her way to hospital that it had radioed ahead to warn of her

condition.

A spokesman for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “The High Court has approved a settlement between the family of the claimant and Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

“We are pleased that the claim has been resolved and would like to take this opportunity to wish the claimant and her family all the best for the future.”