Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust v FF & Anor [2025] EWCOP 26 (T3)

Ex tempore judgment following an application by the Trust to stop using restraint to provide nutrition to FF, who has a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa.

FF was diagnosed in 2009 when 18. She has been admitted to hospital many times though has not consumed an oral diet for three years, likening the forced feeding regime to rape.  Her last recorded weight on 16 June 2025 was five stone and six pounds with a BMI of 13.64. She lives in a self-contained flat but self-care is poor, partly through a belief washing her hair and clothes adds calories. The Trust proposed they continue to provide care but any continued use of force or restraint "is no longer clinically indicated, it being futile, burdensome and damaging to FF."

McKendrick J provides a thorough review of the medical evidence and the relevant authorities before stating, partly because all parties were supportive, that [42]

"The continuation of futile and burdensome treatment which causes significant psychological damage with no proper way out has gone as far as it can, and the treating team are right to craft an alternative treating plan which is not reliant on force."

At [43-59], the judge also analyses the question of which jurisdiction he should use to exercise his powers. 

Read the judgment in full on Bailii.