Our Managing Director, Gareth McCay, attended the High Court (virtually) last week on behalf of the Estate and parents of “Baby H” who brought proceedings against the Western Health and Social Care Trust. Baby H was born at Altnagelvin Area Hospital in 2015 however his birth was traumatic and he was born with catastrophic brain injuries, cerebral palsy and was deaf and blind. Baby H subsequently passed away at 15 weeks. Baby H’s parents brought proceedings against the Trust alleging that there had been an incorrect categorisation of baby H’s mother as low risk, a failure to diligently monitor the foetal heartbeat and a failure by the Obstetric Registrar to move baby H’s mother to theatre for caesarean section in a timely manner. On day 2 of the 5 day trial, the Trust agreed to pay 75% of our Client’s agreed damages and their full costs.
Mr McCay paid tribute to the Clients and the team of experts:
“This was a complex case brought by two grieving parents who self-funded their case in order to obtain justice for their son. They were obstructed from accessing justice by the WHSCT who did not disclose the existence of damning witness statements until days before hearing. Had these documents been produced to our Clients in 2015 it is likely that this matter would have resolved much sooner, our Clients would have been saved from going through this difficult process and both sides would have avoided incurring substantial costs.
Our team were greatly assisted in this case by the expertise of David Sharpe QC and leading experts from the UK and Ireland. I am delighted that baby H’s parents have got justice for their son and they can at least take comfort that they have held the Trust to account for their child’s death.”
Our Clients commented following resolution of the case:
“After the horrific and traumatic birth of our son we contacted Gareth for legal advice and from the moment we walked into his office he gave us the confidence to fight for justice for our son. Over the last 5 years Gareth spent countless hours fighting our case and shared our determination to bring the truth to light and secure a favourable result. We will be forever grateful and cannot thank all of the staff at McCay Solicitors enough. While the death of our son will never heal, our family can take some comfort knowing that we held the WHSCT accountable and got the justice that our son deserved.”