A SEVERELY disabled 12-year-old boy who needs round-the-clock care following complications with his birth has been awarded almost £5m in compensation.

Earlier today (Friday) a High Court agreed that Daniel Groves - who suffers from cerebral palsy, is totally dependent upon a wheelchair and unable to speak - had been let down by medical professionals in Worcestershire.

Birmingham's High Court heard Daniel's family GP and community midwives had failed to spot his mother, Ingrid, had developed gestational diabetes during pregnancy.

She was encouraged to have a home birth, but because of her condition, Daniel was born weighing 11lb 8oz and his shoulders became stuck during labour.

His mother's condition should have meant his birth was classed as a high-risk hospital delivery, but specialist medical teams and equipment was not available to resuscitate him and Daniel was deprived of oxygen leaving him with quadriplegic cerebral palsy and Erb's palsy.

At the High Court, Mr Justice Gibbs awarded Daniel £4.75m, after the establishment of liability against their GP, Dr Lennox Gregorowski, and midwives working for the Worcester Royal Infirmary NHS Trust, now called the Worcester Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

After the hearing, Mrs Groves - who has three other children Chris, aged 26, Michael, aged 19 and 24-year-old Lisa - said the family, who live in Evesham, was "just relieved" that the saga was over.

"Daniel is such a wonderful boy and we can now be confident that he can be cared for in the way he needs, for the rest of his life," said Mrs Groves, aged 45 "However, the relief doesn't mask the anger I still feel for those responsible for the simple mistakes that led to Daniel's condition."

Daniel's father, 49-year-old Richard added: "Initially we were led to believe that Daniel's cerebral palsy was a sad but unavoidable occurrence, but evidence slowly came to light which suggested Ingrid and Daniel had been badly let down by the medical profession.

"I think if we hadn't been so persistent in our quest for answers, we would not have uncovered the truth."

A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: "Whilst liability has not been accepted in full for Daniel's injuries, the trust and his general practitioner Dr Gregorowski do accept that there were shortcomings in the management of care which was given and we wish to express our regret and sincere apologies to Daniel and his family.

"We very much hope that the compensation package which has been agreed will go some way to improving Daniel's quality of life."

The Groves family has requested that the Worcester News does not publish its full address.

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