B underwent surgery to correct a heart defect at Bristol Royal Infirmary in 1992. Today at the High Court in London, Mrs Justice Sharp gave her approval to a financial settlement comprising a lump sum of £1m and annual payments for the rest of B's life.

As part of his case it was argued on B's behalf that he was denied the better operation for his condition because Bristol had such poor results for it. When the less optimal operation was eventually carried out, it was done incompetently and exposed B to brain damage. However, whilst Bristol conceded that surgery was done in a substandard manner, it argued that the resulting damage was not the type it would have expected to see as a result of the negligence.

After the hearing, B's mother said "I cannot tell you how relieved we are that we can put all this behind us. We would rather that none of this had happened because our son has missed and will continue to miss out on so many opportunities that other 19 year olds take for granted. The settlement means that our son can lead a more fulfilled life and can be cared for in his own home for the rest of his life, no matter what happens to us". We are really grateful to our legal team for helping us to achieve this.