NHS North East London ICB v FHR & Ors

Facts

FHR is a 28 year old British Muslim man, born in December 1997, who worked as a mechanic and was close to his mother FN, his father FZR and his sister FRR. On 29 January 2020 he attempted to hang himself and sustained a severe hypoxic brain injury, leaving him blind, largely paralysed, incontinent, dependent on PEG feeding, a tracheostomy and frequent deep suctioning, and in a prolonged disorder of consciousness ever since. He was treated at the Royal Hospital for Neurodisability before being discharged to an adapted home in August 2020. There have been three sets of Court of Protection proceedings: the first, begun by the Clinical Commissioning Group on 23 December 2020, ended in declarations under section 15 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 on 27 June 2022 that it was in his best interests to reside and receive care at home; the second, begun by the Integrated Care Board on 18 July 2023, ended in a final order of 29 July 2024 recording the parties' agreement to the same effect. The ICB began the present proceedings on 29 October 2024 seeking his transfer to a care home, and he moved to VCC in April 2025 for PDOC assessment. The proceedings were transferred to a Tier 3 judge, and the ICB and the Official Solicitor came to contend that clinically assisted nutrition and hydration was no longer in his best interests; his parents and sister opposed withdrawal.