The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust v NP & Anor [2026] EWCOP 27 (T3)

Application by health trust concerning medical treatment for NP's breast cancer

NP is a 67-year-old with longstanding paranoid schizophrenia and lives at a care home. She was diagnosed with grade 3 breast cancer in September 2025. It was agreed NP lacks capacity to make decisions about her treatment. Having initially considered surgery, a CT scan confirmed the cancer had metastasised, making systemic drug treatment the only option. The court was asked to determine whether it was in NP's best interests to undertake a trial of inhibitors alongside her existing drug treatment which may have offered increased life expectancy but came with a risk of more serious side effects.

David Rees KC, sitting as a Tier 3 judge, decided it was not in NP's best interests to commence the trial. While acknowledging the case was finely balanced, the key factor was the increased risk of sepsis or serious infection, which meant the inhibitors were more likely to shorten NP's life than extend it. NP's current good quality of life weighed heavily against that risk. He also makes observations about allocation of such cases at [39].

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