The case concerned an urgent application brought by a NHS Trust that asked the Court of Protection to evaluate the capacity to consent and the best interest of a young woman with cervical cancer. Despite she had never been formally assessed, the woman has learning difficulties and attended a special needs school.

The judge noted that the woman could understand the explanations concerning her treatment (even though not completely) and both her mother and the clinicians agreed that chemotherapy is in her best interest. The Court also underlined that the application had been properly brought before the court because the treatment plan was highly intrusive and very distressing for the patient.

Therefore, the Court concluded that the woman did not have the capacity to consent and granted the hospital’s application, as the treatment is in the patients’ best interest. The whole hearing has been conducted on a remote video conferencing platform during the Covid restrictions.

Link(s): 
Decision available on bailii.org
Author
Lucia Busatta — University of Trento

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