Parents sue hospital for £3.5m

Yorkhill Hospital, where Thomas was treated

A hearing has begun into a £3.5m claim against a children's hospital by the parents of a boy who suffered brain damage.

Thomas and Patricia Arthur blame the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill in Glasgow for the condition of their youngest child Thomas, now six.

He is registered blind and cannot talk or stand.

The Yorkhill NHS Trust is contesting the action at the Court of Session, brought by the couple from Nicol Street, in Greenock.

Mrs Arthur, 41, a mother-of-five, said that both she and the baby were well after Thomas was born at a maternity unit in Greenock in June 1995.

The case is being heard at the Court of Session

But about nine days later she noticed he was in distress and called her family doctor who said it appeared as if the baby had a hernia. He was later taken to Yorkhill.

Mrs Arthur said the baby underwent three operations in seven days and at one stage she believed he was dying.

After he was allowed home, the family discovered Thomas had severe cerebral palsy.

In their action the family contend that medical staff should have known that the baby could suffer damage to the intestine and that because of leakage it was likely to contract blood poisoning.

'Duties of care'

They claim that the child's brain damage and subsequent condition were caused by the fault of Yorkhill staff.

The hospital maintains that its staff performed all of their duties of care to the baby.

It says that no incident occurred while he was in its surgical unit which could explain the condition.

Yorkhill said that brain damage was likely to have occurred during pregnancy rather than after birth.