NHS Early Notification Scheme

A brain injury can leave your child with complex medical and care needs for the rest of their life. The ENS can help you get the advice, financial support, and medical care you need as soon as possible. It can also give you answers about what happened, and a written apology from those responsible.

Medical negligence investigations are complex, especially when dealing with brain injuries in young children. The investigation is often the most time-consuming part of a compensation claim.

Yes, even if the ENS investigates your case, you can still get independent legal advice. This can be very helpful to explain how a birth injury investigation works and how compensation is calculated.

While your ENS investigation is happening, our lawyers will work with you to investigate that all aspects of your child’s injury and its consequences. This includes how your child’s brain injury could affect their future development so that this is considered when calculating how much compensation you should get.

Injuries investigated are:

1. A diagnosis of Grade 3 Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE) – when the brain doesn’t get enough oxygen and blood flow for a period of time.
2. Babies who are therapeutically cooled through active cooling – this is a procedure that helps prevent HIE by cooling the baby’s temperature down to 33 degrees Celsius.
3. A baby is born with hypotonia, is comatose or has seizures at birth – hypotonia means that babies are born with a decreased muscle tone and can sometimes be ‘floppy’ when they’re born.

From 1 April 2022, NHS Resolution will only investigate “Babies who have an abnormal MRI scan where there is evidence of changes in relation to intrapartum hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE)”

These conditions often lead to a diagnosis of cerebral palsy which is the most common severe birth injury. Symptoms of cerebral palsy vary from child to child and can include:

• Problems with movement and coordination such as clumsy, uncontrolled or random movements
• Delays in physical and mental development
• The body seeming too stiff or too floppy
• Weak arms or legs.

If you receive compensation through the NHS Scheme, you can use it to pay for any care and support your child needs.

This could include:

• Specialist therapies and treatments – your child may need therapy for most of their life to help them with any physical or mental disabilities that could come with a brain injury
• Carers or aids to help them – carers can be vital in sharing some of the caring responsibilities involved with a brain injury and allow parents to have a break from care duties
• Specialist equipment they may need – your child may need equipment like a wheelchair or crutches to help them get around if they have any physical impairments.
• Adaptions to your home – making it easier for your child to move around your home can help your child feel more confident and comfortable.

If the ENS rejected your case because your child’s injury doesn’t fall into the right category (for example if there is no evidence of injury on an MRI brain scan), we could still help you appeal or make a birth injury claim.

We’ll thoroughly investigate your situation to see if your child received sub-standard medical care. We’ll also get a medical expert to examine your medical records. They’ll give us a detailed report on what happened and if they think your child should have received better care.