The patient came to hospital pregnant. The doctors advised a caesarian section but she refused it. The doctors said that she lacked capacity and applied to the court for leave to proceed.
Held: It was wrong to apply to the court to override the will of a patient with full capacity. Capacity is not necessarily lost if a patient is committed under the Mental Health Act. Advance Directives are to be heeded. Patients without mental capacity are to be treated according to the medical views of the doctors. The court gave guidelines on the procedures to be followed.
Judges:
Butler-Sloss, Judge, Robert Walker LJJ
Citations:
Times 03-Aug-1998, [1998] EWCA Civ 1349, [1999] Fam 26
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
See Also – Regina v Collins; Pathfinder Mental Health Services NHS Trust and St Georges Health Care NHS Trust ex parte S Admn 18-Feb-1997
An application was to be made to challenge a decision to sterilise a young woman in the care of the health authority.
Held: The application was in the nature of a request for judicial review. As such a judge in the administrative division was . .
See Also – Regina v Collins; Pathfinder Mental Health Services NHS Trust and St George’s Health Care NHS Trust ex parte ‘S’ Admn 17-Mar-1997
The applicant sought to challenge a decision that she should be sterilised, and detained as a mental patient for this purpose. . .
Cited by:
Cited – Corr v IBC Vehicles Ltd HL 27-Feb-2008
The claimant’s husband had committed suicide. She sought damages for financial loss from his former employers under the 1976 Act. He had suffered a severe and debilitating injury working for them leading to his depression and suicide. The employers . .
Cited – G v E and Others CA 16-Jul-2010
E, now aged 19, suffered a genetic disorder leading to severe learning disability and lack of mental capacity. He had been in the care of his sister, the appellant, but had been removed by the local authority when his behaviour became disturbed. G, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Health
Updated: 20 May 2022; Ref: scu.89468