C had been admitted to a secure hospital as a patient under Part III of the Mental Health Act 1983 because of his paranoid schizophrenia. He now sought an injunction to prevent the amputation of his gangrenous foot without his written consent. The patient’s persecutory delusions might have prevented him from weighing the information relevant to having his leg amputated because of gangrene, which he was perfectly capable of understanding, but they did not.
Held: A person may have capacity to manage his affairs notwithstanding that he has schizophrenia, and did in this case.
Thorpe J said: ‘For the patient offered amputation to save life, there are three stages to the decision (1) to take in and retain treatment information, (2) to believe it and (3) to weigh that information, balancing risks and needs.’ and ‘the question to be decided is whether it has been established that C’s capacity is so reduced by his chronic mental illness that he does not sufficiently understand the nature, purpose and effects of the proffered amputation.’ and ‘Although his general capacity is impaired by schizophrenia, it has not been established that he does not sufficiently understand the nature, purpose and effects of the treatment he refuses. Indeed, I am satisfied that he has understood and retained the relevant treatment information, that in his own way he believes it, and that in the same fashion he has arrived at a clear choice.’
Thorpe J
[1994] 1 WLR 290, [1994] 1 All ER 819
Mental Health Act 1983 Part III
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – London Borough of Lewisham v Malcolm and Disability Rights Commission CA 25-Jul-2007
The court was asked, whether asked to grant possession against a disabled tenant where the grounds for possession were mandatory. The defendant was a secure tenant with a history of psychiatric disability. He had set out to buy his flat, but the . .
Cited – Masterman-Lister v Brutton and Co, Jewell and Home Counties Dairies (No 1) CA 19-Dec-2002
Capacity for Litigation
The claimant appealed against dismissal of his claims. He had earlier settled a claim for damages, but now sought to re-open it, and to claim in negligence against his former solicitors, saying that he had not had sufficient mental capacity at the . .
Cited – Regina v C HL 30-Jul-2009
Consent to Sex Requires Capacity
The prosecution appealed against the reversal of the defendant’s conviction for a sexual assault of a woman said to be unable to communicate her refusal to sex because of her mental disorder.
Held: The appeal was allowed, and the conviction . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Health
Leading Case
Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.258858