Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust & Lancashire County Council v AH [2022] EWCOP 45

​Judgment concerning whether a patient with diabetes and learning disability has capacity to decide issues around her treatment.

Anna (not her real name) is 46 years old and has type 1 diabetes. She had been hospitalised in late 2021 as a result of being without insulin and following discharge she was admitted, following an application by the Trust, to a care home for assessment. There were concerns that she would have further health problems as her treatment would not be managed properly in the community. 

An expert was jointly instructed to assess capacity for making decisions about residence, care, treatment, conduct of proceedings and consent to a possible deprivation of liberty.  The expert witness found that Anna lacked the ability “to recognise, let alone to understand that she has mental health needs due to a combination of learning disability and personality disorder (and perhaps autism) that makes it impossible for her to understand that her own chosen care plan is not feasible.” The report was persuasive for HHJ Burrows who found that Anna lacked capacity leaving the issues of best interests and residence to be determined at a later hearing.

Read the judgment on the National Archives