Families who had babies switched at birth in 1967 in line for NHS compensation

Families of two babies reportedly switched at birth in an NHS hospital in 1967 are now in line for compensation in the first case of its kind.

The baby girls, now grown women named in reports only as Claire and Jessica, were switched at an NHS West Midlands hospital shortly after birth but their families only discovered the mistake 55 years later, according to the BBC.

The truth was discovered only after the brother of one of the women, took a DNA test in 2021, which listed another woman as his full sibling.

He contacted the woman and it was quickly realised she had been another baby girl born at the same hospital around the same time.

It is extremely rare for incidents of babies being switched at birth to occur. A freedom of information request in 2017 revealed there had been no recorded cases of babies being sent home with the wrong family.

Since the 1980s, newborns have been given radio frequency identification (RFID) tags immediately after their birth, which allow their location to be tracked.

NHS Resolution, which deals with complaints against the NHS, told the BBC the switch was an “appalling error” and that it had accepted legal liability.

It told the BBC that it was a “unique and complex case” and that it was still working to agree on the amount of compensation that was due.

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Source: The Independent, 4 November 2024