In Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust v KB & Ors [2024] EWHC 3292 (Fam), Fatima, a ten-year-old Muslim girl, was a patient in the Hospital. She was on a ventilator and could hear but not speak, and she was subject to seizures. Though her condition was life-limiting and of anticipated neurological decline, it was hard to predict what would be likely to cause her death.

The Trust applied for a declaration that it was

“not in her best interests to continue to receive life-sustaining treatment in the form of ventilation (whether invasive or non-invasive) and in her best interests to be extubated and for palliative care and treatment to be provided to her under medical supervision such that she suffers the least distress and retains the greatest dignity until such time as her life will come to an end” [1].

Her parents opposed the application, but her Children’s Guardian supported it [2]. Continue reading →