Children can receive damages for the years of their life that will be lost because of medical negligence, the Supreme Court has ruled.
The decision by the UK’s highest court overturns a legal ruling from 45 years ago and could lead to the NHS having to pay millions of pounds to patients harmed by botched procedures.
A 1981 Court of Appeal judgment stated children cannot receive damages despite adults and teenagers being allowed to do so under the law.
It found that children could not receive damages on the basis they did not have any “dependants”.
But the Supreme Court’s ruling in London on Wednesday said this was “incorrect” and was “inconsistent…with legal principle”.
The decision comes after a child, known only as CCC, sued Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2020.
CCC was diagnosed with cerebral palsy following a severe brain injury, which was caused by clinical negligence by the trust and left the child requiring 24-hour care.
In the High Court ruling in 2023, Mr Justice Ritchie said that CCC suffered a severe shortage of oxygen to the brain before and during her birth, which caused cerebral palsy, with her life expectancy reduced to 29.
Mr Justice Ritchie awarded CCC a total of £6,866,615, which included the costs of care and equipment, but declined to order that the trust pay “lost years” damages, stating that he was “bound” by the 1981 Court of Appeal decision.
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CCC’s mother then took the case to the Supreme Court on behalf of the child, with the challenge heard over two days in February last year.
By a four-to-one majority, the Supreme Court allowed the appeal and ordered that the case be sent back to the High Court so “lost years” damages could be assessed.
In his ruling, Lord Reed said “whatever the age of the claimant”, the court has to “assess just compensation as best it can on the material which is reasonably available”.
Following the ruling, CCC’s mother said: “I feel elated that my little girl has changed the law and that this will help lots of other children who have been injured through no fault of their own.”
Jane McNicholas, chief medical officer at the trust, said a review showed “there were clearly aspects of the care which should have been done differently, and we are so very sorry that this happened”.
