A Huddersfield family waited 13 years to receive £7m in compensation for birth injuries caused to their baby.

The family sued Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust after hospital negligence led to their baby being born with brain damage.

It is the longest anyone in Huddersfield has waited for this type of claim to be settled under the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts.

At the end of their ordeal the parents were awarded £7,030,776 by the trust which runs Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and Calderdale Royal Hospital, Halifax.

It is the most money that the trust has ever awarded in damages for a single maternity case under the scheme.

The figures, which were exclusively obtained by the Examiner through a Freedom of Information request to the NHSLA, come on the back of new plans to fast-track compensation for children in this situation.

Calderdale Royal Hospital

The Trust did not reveal which hospital was involved, citing patient and family confidentiality.

Now as part of reforms intended to improve the safety record of Britain’s maternity units, parents with a claim will be able to join a voluntary ‘rapid resolution and redress’ scheme.

It is hoped that as well as speeding up the process for parents, the plans will also reduce the amount spent by the NHS on lawyers.

In 2015-16, Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust paid £3.1m for defence and claimant costs, along with £4.5m in damages.

Details of this specific case were not disclosed in order to protect the family’s privacy.

But high value maternity cases almost always involve children who have suffered a brain injury.

These kinds of injuries are often linked with a failure to monitor babies’ heart rates which detects risks of oxygen starvation.

Where a child tragically suffers brain damage at birth they will frequently have complex life-long care, equipment and accommodation needs.

In some cases the cause and type of the brain damage may not become fully apparent for several years until the child is older.

The complexities surrounding this type of case explain why it can take so long for a claim to be resolved.

The NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) will usually make interim payments to ensure that the immediate needs of the child are met.

However, this may come as little comfort to a family stuck in the legal process of claiming compensation for their child for more than a decade.

Assistant Director of Quality at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust Juliette Cosgrove said: “ We are a member of the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts and, as such, the management of claims and the timescales for claims lies with NHS Litigation.”