Blunder victim wins NHS cash

A DAD-OF-TWO, left facing a lifetime of acute disability by hospital blunders after he broke his back in a road smash, is in line for multi-million-pound compensation following a High Court hearing.

Michael Spence was 24 when he released his seat belt to turn round and retrieve his 18-month-old son's dummy just as his long-term partner, Angela Naveda, slammed into the car in front, the court was told. The ex-carpenter, now 29, of Hamfrith Road, Stratford, was hurled backwards into the windscreen.

His injuries from the April 2005 accident in High Road, Chadwell Heath, have left him partially paralysed from the waste [sic] down and suffering from depression and severe panic attacks.

The High Court case centred on his treatment at King George Hospital in Goodmayes. On Thursday, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust accepted they must pay 80 per cent of his damages, which have yet to be finally assessed. The rest will be paid by Miss Naveda's car insurers. Mr Spence's solicitor, Kevin Grealis, confirmed outside the court that his client could expect £2-3 million, mainly to cover accommodation, lost earnings and the cost of care.

Source: Newham Recorder.