Mental Capacity Case
University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust v K and Mrs W
Judge
Hayden J
Citation
In University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust v K and Mrs W [2020] EWCOP 31, a woman in her mid-30s had recently been diagnosed with cancer. Without radiotherapy and chemotherapy, she would likely die a painful death within a year. The treatment offered a 30-40% prospect of survival for more than 5 years, after which she would have a normal life expectancy. However, the treatment would render her infertile as it would expedite the menopause. K had been enthusiastically cooperative with treatment so far, but there was much worse treatment to come.
The reasons behind the application were threefold:
- It was highly intrusive treatment over a considerable period of time;
- It would cause infertility;
- There was a distinct possibility K might withdraw her cooperation when the treatment became more distressing.