A NHS Foundation Trust v MC [2020] EWCOP 33

​An NHS Trust was seeking the court's consent for the harvesting of peripheral blood stem cells from the P so they can be donated to her mother who has chronic leukaemia. Consent was granted.

The 18 year old P lives at home with her parents.  She has two younger siblings. The P's mother was diagnosed with leukaemia several years ago and her life expectancy without a stem cell transplant is estimated to be about 12 months. Other members of family have been screened as potential donors but the P is the only one who is a match. The court had to decide whether it was in the P's best interests that she acts as a donor to her mother.

The court concluded that it is overwhelmingly in the P's best interest to participate in the proposed programme and donate her stem cells for the benefit of her mother. It is in the P's best interests as much as her mother's.

Read the full text of the judgment on Bailii