A (A Child), Re (Rev 1)
2014
COURT OF PROTECTION
United Kingdom
CORAM
- MR JUSTICE HAYDEN
Areas of Law
- Family Law
- Health Law
2014
COURT OF PROTECTION
United Kingdom
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The case involves a hospital’s application to impose medical treatment on a 15-year-old girl against her and her mother’s wishes due to severe malnutrition. The court ruled in favor of the hospital, authorizing the use of force if necessary, as the girl lacked the capacity to make her own medical decisions. The judgment emphasized the best interest standard, capacity assessment in minors, and the legality of reasonable force for medical intervention.
JUDGMENT
MR JUSTICE HAYDEN
This judgment was delivered in private. The judge has given leave for this version of the judgment to be published on condition that (irrespective of what is contained in the judgment) in any published version of the judgment the anonymity of the children and members of their family must be strictly preserved. All persons, including representatives of the media, must ensure that this condition is strictly complied with. Failure to do so will be a contempt of court.has been emailed to you it is to be treated as ‘read-only’.
Mr Justice Hayden :
A, the young person with whom I am concerned, will be 16 years old in June of this year. At the time I am hearing this application, brought by an NHS Foundation Trust, A weighs just 5 ½ stones and has been in hospital for 10 months. She has been confined to a bed now for several weeks. Since she was transferred to the Y Children’s Hospital on the 26 th April 2013 A has undergone a battery of tests to identify the cause of the persistent vomiting which has led to her dramatic weight loss.
Dr B, the Consultant Paediatric Gastroenterologist, who has overall responsibility for A’s clinical care, has prepared a report for the court dated the 9 th January 2014. Annexed to that report is an exhibit headed ‘Patient Investigation and Treatment Summary’. That document reveals that A has had in the region of 95 blood tests (which have been largely stable), allergy tests (all normal), ultrasound scan, dexa scan and barium studies. All show results within the normal range. Some of these tests have been highly intrusive and A has required general anaesthetic for the purposes of testing on two occasions.
Following oral intake A vomits up to thirty times per day. However, an unusual feature of the history, and one which cannot be reconciled with any known clinical pattern, is that A does not vomit at all during the night. It is her habit, apparently, to sleep quite soundly from around midnight until approximately 8.30am.
Dr C, a consultant Paediatrician at the Y Children’s Hospital concluded that there was no organic cause or malignant pathology for these symptoms. This was a view that neither A nor her mother were prepared to accept. Accordingly it was thought that it might be helpful to obtain a second opinion. One was obtained from a Dr D, a Consultant Gastroenterologist. He agreed that there was no organic cause for the symptoms and in the absence of a diagnosis he settled upon the neutral conclu