By Claire Martin, 23rd September 2021 I observed a remote hearing (COP 13339015) at Lincoln Family Court on 6th September 2021. District Judge McIlwaine was presiding. The case concerned a challenge to Lasting Powers of Attorney from the Office of the Public Guardian and was preparatory to a final 3-day hearing starting on 27th September 2021. The applicant is P’s daughter,Continue reading “Challenge to Lasting Powers of Attorney”
Tag Archives: Best Interests
Refusing blood products during pregnancy and labour
“The Official Solicitor observes that P is considered capacitous in all the areas in which she is willing to take that [medical] advice; it is only where she is not willing to follow medical advice that she is considered to lack capacity”.
Forced HIV treatment? A censored account of a case involving possible restraint
By Celia Kitzinger, 9th September 2021 UPDATE: After I corresponded with counsel in this case, the Transparency Order was varied. The original transparency order that was sent to me prohibited publication of any material or info that could identify P including her age, ethnicity/national origin, and the identity of the clinicians or any other witnesses in the case.Continue reading “Forced HIV treatment? A censored account of a case involving possible restraint”
Risk-averse medical decisions, the right to privacy, and best interests: Video-monitoring Part 3
If a best interests’ process had been followed and it had been decided that monitoring was not in David’s best interests, then no court hearing would have been needed and P would not have had his Article 8 right violated for a long time. If there had been disagreement (e.g. between parent and clinician) after a best interests process, then an application to the Court of Protection might have led to a case process similar to this, but without delay. The issue in this case is that there was no best interests’ process at all!
Best interests in a contested end-of-life case: Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v AH & Ors [2021] EWCOP 51
What Claire and I witnessed in the Court of Protection was a determined, serious, and lengthy attempt on the part of the judge to determine what AH would want, in the absence of any direct record to help him. Mr Justice Hayden tried very hard to find out what her wishes would be, and to respect them – giving effect to her autonomy and self-determination.
Secure units and young people: In search of home to call your own
Admission to a restrictive hospital environment does not resolve the underlying reasons as to why young people self-harm and may paradoxically increase risk by encouraging young people to move to new and often more lethal ways of harming themselves once access to their usual means is removed.
An invisible attention bias: A response to ‘The elephant in the courtroom’
I wonder what checks and balances we can put in place to ensure that the case managers, care home managers, District Nurses, GPs, ward managers, or consultants nominally ‘in charge’ of a patient’s care do carry out reviews of these decisions using a best interests approach if P lacks capacity.
Should P go to live with her family in her country of birth?
DJ Beckley’s approach was compassionate. He handled the frequent disruptions to the process with humanity and a lightness of touch. In particular, I noticed that at no point did he ask P to stop crying or to calm down – instead he validated her feelings and tried to explain to her, in understandable language, what was happening, what he needed to know and what he was going to do next. I thought this was exemplary practice
The elephant in the courtroom: Clinically assisted nutrition and hydration in a hearing about care and residence
By Celia Kitzinger, 23rd August 2021 I’m profoundly disturbed by this case (COP 12913981) before District Judge Beckley, which has been slowly progressing though the Court of Protection for more than two years[1]. It represents a missed opportunity for the court to engage with a vulnerable person’s best interests in a holistic way. I want toContinue reading “The elephant in the courtroom: Clinically assisted nutrition and hydration in a hearing about care and residence”
Lasting Power of Attorney: Across Borders
My interest in LPAs, and the reason I became a Lasting Power of Attorney Consultant, stems from a long career as a nurse in palliative and end of life care, where I witnessed the impact of not having these important documents in place. I feel incredibly passionate about people’s voices; their choices and their values being heard – and LPAs are an important way of enabling this. I advocate for proactive Advance Care Planning and LPAs are one important element of planning ahead.
Promoting Open Justice in the Court of Protection 