Girl injured at birth awarded £11m in compensation

A girl who suffered devastating injuries at birth at Lincoln County Hospital is going to receive compensation worth £10.8 million.

The amount of money given to 11-year-old Milly Evans at London's High Court is thought to be one of the highest clinical negligence awards.

After Milly's birth on March 1st 2001 she was transferred to the neo-natal unit, where she underwent resuscitation and suffered a seizure.

Her parents, Andy and Kate, claimed that if the baby's heart had been properly monitored, the midwife would have spotted her fetal distress sooner, and Milly would have been delivered earlier without suffering catastrophic injury.

Milly, from Lincolnshire, suffers from cerebral palsy and requires 24-hour care and is confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak, although her intellect has remained fairly well intact and she communicates through sophisticated eye-gaze equipment.

She sat smiling in court as the judge approved a settlement involving a lump sum of £5.866 million and lifelong periodic payments rising to £204,000 a year.

United Lincolnshire Hospital NHS Trust admitted liability in March 2010 but contested the amount of damages until the parties recently reached agreement.

Milly will now be able to have a specially adapted home, with hoists and a hydrotherapy pool.