Family-led support for your medical negligence claim

Created and run by caregivers who get it, Billy is guiding families through birth injury litigation.

In the UK, the past decade has seen billions of pounds paid out to the families of children who, due to medical negligence, sustained brain injuries during birth. And while the monetary compensation for mistakes that cause life-long, significant disabilities is – and should be – substantial, so too are the struggles behind them.

Helen O’Neill-Nash knows first-hand how complex, lengthy and emotionally-fraught birth injury litigation can be. Her own son’s medical negligence case took 13 years to settle.

“Litigation is a brutal process for families – and although the aim is to secure lifelong care and security for the child affected, the family around that child are often forgotten about,” says Helen. “There is no real compensation for parents losing their careers, pensions and financial security. There is no awareness of the real impact on siblings and other family members.”

Today, through her social enterprise,Billy, Helen now supports and advocates for families seeking compensation for negligent medical treatment.

“Our mission is to prevent insult after injury to those families in birth injury medical negligence litigation,” says Helen. “We do this by empowering and supporting families to make informed choices and by working with all professionals involved to improve current processes.”

Back when she was new to the world of litigation, Helen was helped by a small Facebook group of parents who’d also experienced this process. She and another admin grew this group to over 900 members and, in 2021, launched a private group to protect the confidentiality of members in active litigation.

“This gave us more confidence to discuss and research issues, grow our admin team, and provide verified links and information,” says Helen. “We [now] have online discussions and offer telephone support for members.”

The private Facebook group quickly grew – highlighting the need for a more formalised platform to help families going through birth injury litigation for their children. So came Billy, a family-driven charity offering resources and peer-to-peer support both during and post-settlement.

“Finding your tribe is the most helpful thing you can do for you and your family,” says Helen, who encourages any parent or caregiver looking for guidance and support with child birth litigation to get in touch.

Visit the Billy website and Facebook group for more information.