Management of health and welfare cases

VT v ( NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board and Another [2024] EWHC 294 (Fam)

A recent case before the Court of Protection has indicated that there can be significant difficulties in managing welfare cases in the UK legal system in the context of integrated care. The judge in the Family Court, Arbuthnot J, who heard an appeal on this case, considered the appropriateness of making final decisions at procedural hearings and emphasised the importance of applying basic principles of active case management and procedural fairness in the Court of Protection. The central issue was whether, in the light of rr3 and 5 of the Court of Protection Rules 2017, it had been appropriate to make final decisions on VT's capacity in the absence of cogent evidence, and whether VT's best interests had been met based only on submissions and without a s49 report. The report below updates previous coverage on this judgment in the August/September issue of Personal Injury Compensation.