NHS Kent & Medway Integrated Care Board v OQD & Anor [2026] EWCOP 23 (T3)

Another judgment concerning severe delays by the Trust in applying to withdraw CANH from a patient in a Prolonged Disorder of Consciousness

OQD has been a patient at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability (RHND) since 2014, following a serious assault in 2013 that caused severe hypoxic brain damage. OQD has remained in a Prolonged Disorder of Consciousness throughout, with no neurological improvement. It is the fifth such case raising similar concerns about systemic failures at RHND.

In this judgment, Lieven J finds the delays 'deeply troubling and unjustifiable' and that the best interests of OQD have been overlooked for years. At [31] she states:

"In my view, a significant issue for the RHND is its focus on the views of the family and on reaching consensus with the family on a decision. As Hayden J sets out in both JP and GU, the views of the family are sought primarily in order to illuminate what the P would have wished, not for their own sakes. There is a degree to which the RHND appears to have put the views of the family concerned above focusing on the best interests of the patient. This is plainly wrong."

She also says she would send the judgment to the Secretary of State for Health and the Chief Executive of NHS England.

Read the judgment on Bailii