A mother has claimed that negligent monitoring led to the death of one of her twins and left the other one disabled.
In 1998 Faye Austin became pregnant with twin girls. Scans later showed that the babies shared the same placenta. One of the twins died a week after the premature birth. Barnsley Hospital NHS Trust agreed to pay damages, ahead of a High Court trial,said to be up to £2.5m,to provide care for Elsbeth.
The girls, Elspeth and Charlotte, were identical twins. Although they shared the same placentathey were growing in individual foetal sacks. Such pregnancies are known to be troublesome and require careful monitoring to guard against the twins becoming fused in the womb. Both babies suffered serious damage to their lungs and Charlotte died a week after she was born in September 1998. Elspeth survived but was kept alive only by being fed oxygen for the first 15 months of her life. As a result of her brain being starved of oxygen, Elspeth suffered cerebral palsy, and will not require treatment for the rest of her life.
Mrs Austin from Carlton in Barnsley, sued the Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust for between £3m and £5m. She claimed the hospital’s system of managing twin pregnancies at the time was negligent and she should have been checked more regularly to prevent problems later on.
The trust denied negligence but agreed to pay out 50% of the full value of Elspeth's claim to settle the case ahead of a seven-day High Court trial which was due to start next Monday. Guy Mansfield QC, for the trust, said while there had been no admission of liability, the management of twin pregnancies at the hospital had been overhauled in response to the tragedy.
He said: "The trust is pleased it has reached a settlement in this case and hopes that it will in due course contribute to providing for Elspeth's needs. The trust did investigate these events after the complaint by Elspeth's parents and did conclude that the management system in place was appropriate at that time. However, there have since been changes in the management of twin pregnancies and, as a result, the risk of a repeat of these events has been minimised."
Paul Stewart, who represented the Austin family, said: "The parents will welcome those comments from the trust, because part of their motivation in bringing this claim was to make sure that the fate which befell them didn't befall other people."
A later court hearing will decide the amount of damages payout. After the hearing on Tuesday, Mr Stuart said the figure was likely to be between £1.5m and £2.5m. This sum will provide for Elspeth’s future care.
November 2006
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