Compensation for being given the wrong baby.

What ye are forgetting is she was from Cork they like there own down there,
away to purple to be a Cork Baby,;)
 
charlie007 said:
There's no figure mentioned but this was the High Court.

Can someone really justify taking a case like this??
Click to expand...
It seems utterly crazy. I recently received the wrong food delivery order. I knew it was the wrong order because the tag/receipt said it belonged to someone else. It was resolved quite quickly, I was given the correct order and they were very apologetic but it caused a considerable amount of distress... I think I need some compensation... eh, what solicitor and barrister did she use?
 
I hope you had a good lie down for the stress it caused.....by the way was it nice :p
 
joer said:
I hope you had a good lie down for the stress it caused.....by the way was it nice :p
Click to expand...
It would have been nice if I hadn't been given the wrong one first. The incorrect order was much nicer and I preferred it but then I had to give it back. When I was given the correct one I couldn't help but feel disappointed. I just couldn't bond with it. That's what caused the distress. That's why I think I need to go to the High Court.
 
I note from RTE Online News, the baby was born under emergency Caesarian Section and mother and child were kept in the maternity hospital for three days. The baby was presented to the mother on her request for a “short time” when she discovered after reading the baby name tag that she was given the wrong baby. Both were discharged later that same day.
 
Leper said:
I note from RTE Online News, the baby was born under emergency Caesarian Section and mother and child were kept in the maternity hospital for three days. The baby was presented to the mother on her request for a “short time” when she discovered after reading the baby name tag that she was given the wrong baby. Both were discharged later that same day.
Click to expand...
Well obviously that was a life changing event (getting the wrong baby for a few minutes, not the Caesarean) and deserves High Court levels of compensation. I just hope neither mother or baby need medical treatment at the same hospital in the near future since, well, they are short a few bob now and might have to make cut-backs.
 
In fairness to the mother, and it may have only been a few minutes, but she must have been lying there wondering what had happened her child, had another couple gone home with it, was it even alive? Not a pleasant experience and if the fine makes the hospital tighten up it's processes, then it would be a good thing. I do wonder if any action was taken against the staff member in question and it makes you wonder if they can mix a baby up, what else gets confused. ?
 
Peanuts20 said:
In fairness to the mother, and it may have only been a few minutes, but she must have been lying there wondering what had happened her child, had another couple gone home with it, was it even alive?
Click to expand...
Seriously? Which reaction do you think a normal person would have;

"Oh, they gave me the wrong baby, babies all look the same, it must be a mix-up"

OR

"Oh, they gave me the wrong baby, mine must be dead."

If it's the latter then it's not a trip to the High Court that she needs.


Peanuts20 said:
Not a pleasant experience and if the fine makes the hospital tighten up it's processes, then it would be a good thing.
Click to expand...
Maybe they should barcode the babies foreheads with ink that fades after a few weeks.

Peanuts20 said:
I do wonder if any action was taken against the staff member in question and it makes you wonder if they can mix a baby up, what else gets confused. ?
Click to expand...
I hope there is no action taken against them.

I do hope that the mother in question wasn't given the wrong dinner during her stay. Imagine getting fish when, shock horror, you don't like fish and ordered the chicken! That might necessitate another trip to the High Court.
 
The baby was being cared for over night in a nursery, had a name tag on it (which wasn't checked) and was brought to the claimant the next morning, (and then puked on her). It was utterly careless by the hospital and my own view would be that the staff member in question should be sacked. It leaves a far bigger question, that will probably never be answered, was this the first time this happened and have parents actually gone home with the wrong baby.

When my father passed away (in the same hospital) 12 years ago, a nurse brought us a tagged bag with what was supposed to be his clothes in it afterwards, except it wasn't his and some things I would have liked to keep like his Pioneer Pin, were never found. Personnally, I found that upsetting. Even if it was only for a few minutes, I can't imagine what a mother would feel like after a serious operation to go through something like this. I do agree the compensation amount is OTT but its a fundamental breakdown in basic controls. What if the baby had needed surgery, meidication?
 
Peanuts20 said:
it makes you wonder if they can mix a baby up, what else gets confused
Click to expand...
A few years ago, my father in law was being wheeled by an orderly to the operating theatre in the Mater.

The orderly was a friendly type and in the course of the conversation, he asked how things were in Roscommon. “I don’t know”, my FIL replied curiously, “I haven’t been there in years”.

The orderly stopped abruptly, checked the name tag and said “oh, wrong patient!”.

I guess the mix-up would have been discovered in theatre before surgery commenced but it was a bit unsettling nonetheless.
 
Purple said:
Maybe they should barcode the babies foreheads with ink that fades after a few weeks.
Click to expand...
Not as crazy as it might sound at first Senor Purple.

We all have our unique bar-coding in our DNA. What about babies and Mammies having scannable ID bracelets with coding based on their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)? This can only come from Mammy so matching one to the other is infallible.
 
Salvadore said:
I guess the mix-up would have been discovered in theatre before surgery commenced but it was a bit unsettling nonetheless.
Click to expand...
Yes, porters get sent to collect patients, they are not provided personal data to perform any verification, that all happens once at the OR where at least two individuals independently run verification.
 
mathepac said:
Not as crazy as it might sound at first Senor Purple.

We all have our unique bar-coding in our DNA. What about babies and Mammies having scannable ID bracelets with coding based on their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)? This can only come from Mammy so matching one to the other is infallible.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a bit of an overkill. How about an RFID tag in a silicone bracelet on every patient in every hospital? That can be use to identify them, track their location in real time, identify bottlenecks in A&E and Imaging etc and access full digital patient records. It's 50 year old technology, dirt cheap and currently used all over industry. It could potentially save billions in waste and hundreds of thousands of wasted man hours). I think that would be better.

Of course it doesn't remove human error. That requires good procedures. They are free, probably cost positive in fact, but require people to do their job properly and make people accountable for their actions so that won't happen.
 
Leo said:
Yes, porters get sent to collect patients, they are not provided personal data to perform any verification, that all happens once at the OR where at least two individuals independently run verification.
Click to expand...
Yep, name tag is read and patient is asked their name and date of birth at least twice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top