Wandsworth Clinical Commissioning Group v IA (By the Official Solicitor As His Litigation Friend)
2014
COURT OF PROTECTION
United Kingdom
CORAM
- MR JUSTICE COBB
Areas of Law
- Health Law
- Human Rights Law
- Civil Procedure
2014
COURT OF PROTECTION
United Kingdom
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
IA, a 59-year-old man with multiple health issues and cognitive impairment, faces decisions regarding his medical treatment, future residence, and management of his property. Despite prior interim findings of incapacity, current expert assessments, particularly by Dr. Bashir, conclude that IA has the capacity to make such decisions. The court ruled in favor of IA's capacity, emphasizing that practical steps were taken to help IA reach decisions and recognizing that his occasional unwise decisions and challenging personality do not indicate a lack of capacity.
Judgment
MR JUSTICE COBB
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 incapacitated person 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.
The Honourable Mr Justice Cobb :
Introduction and Summary
IA was born in 1954, and is now 59 years old. He suffers from Type 2 diabetes mellitus, is partially blind (due to diabetic retinopathy) and has limited mobility. He has a serious kidney disease for which he requires regular dialysis, and suffers from anaemia. He has chronic leg ulcers, cellulitis, and neuropathy in his feet as a result of his diabetes; he is constantly at risk of severe infection.
In June 2007, he was the subject of a violent criminal assault, being repeatedly kicked to the head; he sustained a serious head injury, involving skull fractures, brain haemorrhage and contusions to the right frontal area of the brain. As a result he suffered a degree of cognitive impairment for which he was treated at a specialist rehabilitation centre. The injury was said to have left IA with problems of memory, inflexibility of thought, impulsivity, and mood control. He has exhibited deficits in executive functioning with reduced capacity to organise, judge and show control over decision-making.
IA is currently at one of London’s major teaching Hospitals (“the Hospital”), where he has been an in-patient since November 2013. He was admitted as an emergency following an episode of diabetes-related hypoglycaemia. IA is now ready for discharge from hospital, and decisions are required as to his future care. Critically, the court needs to determine whether IA has capacity to make or contribute to the relevant decisions.
Specific issue has arisen as to whether IA is able to make decisions about his:
ongoing medical treatment;
future residence and care;
and
management of his property and affairs.
These issues arise within long-standing proceedings commenced in 2012 by the London Borough of Wandsworth. At the time of the inception of proceedings, the authority was concerned about IA’s interim accommodation and care needs; consideration was then being given to placing him in residential care. Directi