U.K. Supreme Court to weigh life-support patients’ rights

A family will take on a hospital in England at the country’s Supreme Court in a battle over the rights of patients who are on life support. St. Helier Hospital in Sutton, southwest London, withdrew the support from Robert Barnor, 68, against his relatives’ wishes. The family accused the hospital of unlawfully withdrawing life support from a patient with brain damage, leading to his death. A lower court ruled earlier this year in favor of the family, but the order came too late for Barnor, Christian Legal Centre said Monday.

St. Helier Hospital was granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court to answer questions about when the National Health Service bodies needed to apply to the court to resolve disputes about medical treatment, including life-sustaining treatment.

This will be a landmark case that protects families across the country, Christian Legal Centre said. The lower court was right to rule that hospitals can’t simply label the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment a clinical decision and ignore court intervention, the U.K.-based organization added. The Supreme Court hearing will occur in January 2027.

Why did the hospital withdraw care? Barnor was in the hospital following a stroke in April 2025. He received dialysis twice a week from the hospital to treat his diabetes, Christian Legal Centre said. But hospital staff said Barnor should be taken off the treatments because of severe brain damage. The family contested that plan and asked for an independent review of Barnor’s medical records and brain scans. The hospital previously said it had received second opinions from three independent doctors on Barnor’s condition, according to The Telegraph.

When disputes between families and hospitals occur, a court steps in to decide whose view is right, Christian Legal Centre said. But the family was in the middle of such legal mediation when medical staff said they had made the clinical decision to end Barnor’s care. Medical staff said Barnor had no prospect of returning to meaningful consciousness, The Telegraph reported.

What happened next? The family petitioned an appeals court. In February, the court found that when doctors and family can’t agree, court permission was required before hospitals could withdraw life support from mentally incapacitated patients. But the ruling came too late, as Barnor passed away that month.

Lesley Barnor Townsend said her father’s life was taken out of the family's hands. The Supreme Court’s decision could prevent this from happening to other families, she said. Hospitals should not be allowed to run down the clock when families object in court to a withdrawal of care, Townsend said.

Dig deeper: Read my report on the family’s plea in the courts in February.