Victoria Burgess and James Holmes of the Garden Court Family Law Team were instructed by Essex County Council.
This was an application brought by University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (“the Trust”) under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court in relation to the medical treatment of GH, a 15-year-old child.
It concerned life-sustaining medical treatment for GH who has, at different times, expressed resistance to further invasive treatment and whose mother has held reservations rooted in religious, cultural, and personal beliefs.
The court was required to determine whether it should exercise its inherent jurisdiction in circumstances where the consequence of non-intervention is death.
The Trust applied for declarations that it is lawful and in GH’s best interests for specified investigations and treatment to proceed.
The judge was invited by GH’s mother to give a judgment which would provide a base line in respect of any future application to discharge or revise a best interests decision, in the event that GH withdrew her consent.
The judge made the declarations and best interest decisions sought by the Trust to enable the agreed treatment plan to be implemented.
Link to full judgment: University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v GH & Ors [2026] EWHC 1064 (Fam)
