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People

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1926 - 2022

Helen Hammond, Senior Associate at Penningtons Manches

Profile

Helen is a senior associate, with over 10 years’ experience in obtaining compensation for victims of clinical negligence. She specialises in cases arising from maternity care, covering brain injury claims, such as cerebral palsy, as well as neonatal deaths and stillbirths. Helen also has expertise in other life-changing injuries, such as Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES) and spinal injuries, such as spinal stroke, as well as representing vulnerable patients who have developed pressure sore injuries. 

She understands the impact life-changing injuries can have on the wider family unit and is familiar with supporting vulnerable clients through the litigation process. Helen has experience in helping families after she has secured significant interim payments, and develops close working relationships with deputyship teams and case managers. This is done alongside specialist litigation experts to ensure that she presents a claim for the right care, accommodation, therapy and equipment that reflects her client’s needs, likes and dislikes, and allows them to maximise their future potential, whatever that may be. 

Having trained in-house with the NHS in Wales, Helen has experience of the internal procedures and processes involved in the investigation of a claim from the healthcare provider’s perspective. She has a strong understanding of medicine having grown up in a household affected by complex medical issues. Helen has also been involved with a variety of charities over the years to promote patient safety and to improve the birth experience overall, including with Tommy’s and Sands. She works closely with AvMA and is an AvMA accredited specialist clinical negligence solicitor.

Recent work highlights

  • An estimated £8 million settlement of a claim for life-changing injuries (cerebral palsy and epilepsy) arising from the failure to diagnose and treat neonatal meningitis arising from a Group B Strep infection.
  • Achieving a 60% liability settlement for life-changing injuries (cerebral palsy and epilepsy) relating back to care in 1998, arising from the CTG monitoring during pregnancy where the baby was experiencing chronic oxygen deprivation.
  • Settlement of a stillbirth claim with a secondary victim component for the father, arising from foetal growth restriction and errors in the midwifery monitoring which should have resulted in referral for a growth scan.
  • Achieving an admission on a claim arising from the failure to identify developing CES following spinal surgery before discharge post-operatively, where the client had suffered life-changing injuries.
  • Obtaining £75,000 for a wheelchair dependent patient with a complex medical presentation for the pressure sores they developed whilst under hospital and community nursing care.

Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP

Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC311575 and is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under number 419867.

Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP