Only way to get justice is to make NHS pay (From Warrington Guardian)

Only way to get justice is to make NHS pay

THE father of a five-month-old baby whose organs were retained by Warrington Hospital 30 years ago, has spoken out in defence of more than 2,000 families in similar situations who have launched a legal bid for more compensation.

Last week, the Guardian told how Val Nicholls, of Barrowhall Lane, Great Sankey, whose son's organs were retained by Liverpool's Alder Hey Hospital, had criticised the families, saying they were putting a price on their children's lives.

But Ronald Hill of Caldbeck Avenue, Orford, who lost his son Robert to bronchial pneumonia at five- months-old, claims the only way to get justice is by seeking compensation payouts from the NHS.

He said: "The only way we will get justice is to make them think twice about doing it again and the only way to get them to think twice is through them losing money."

Widower Ronald claims he contacted Warrington Hospital when the Alder Hey scandal first broke out and asked them whether they had kept any parts of his son.

He said: "They told me that after an extensive search they had found nothing but then weeks later I discovered that they had blocks and slides of my son from the post mortem examination. It brought everything back; when my wife went to see him in the chapel of rest he had a bonnet on and she took it off. There was a massive hole in the back of his head where they had removed his little brain.

"Part of me does understand what Val is saying but we are not ogres, it may be 30 years on but there's not a day goes by that I don't think about Robert."

He added: "There's no such thing as justice in the NHS. The only way the NHS will sit up and listen is if it is having to hand out cash. Val says that the money doesn't count but that's the only way to get any justice."