Periodical payments in damages award

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has agreed an out-of-court settlement in respect of an unnamed boy who was left paralysed from the neck down after an incident at birth, reports the BBC. Unusually, the settlement includes periodical payments that will be made over the boy's lifetime.

The boy, who is now ten years old, was delivered by forceps, which caused serious injury to his spinal cord, leaving him unable to breath unaided and needing 24-hour care.

His parents had originally sued the health authority for £23 million in damages. The undisclosed final compensation settlement will be paid as an initial lump sum, followed by yearly payments after that.