RGU project seeks way out for end-life childcare issues
Avoiding conflict between families and medical professionals when it comes to a child’s end-of-life care is the subject of a research project now underway at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.
Led by Dr Sarah Sivers, academic strategic lead at RGU’s Law School, the research will explore what kinds of dispute resolution methods would be best suited in Scotland, in an attempt to avoid the kind of drawn-out legal battles that have taken place south of the border over whether life support for a child should be turned off, most recently in the case of 12 year old Archie Battersbee.
Past instances have seen families seek experimental or continued treatment and explore the possibility of moving the child home or even abroad for further treatment. If a dispute arises, the court has to decide what is in the child’s best interests, using a holistic view to determine all aspects of the child’s interests before reaching a decision.
Archie Battersbee’s case, which followed a tragic misadventure, became a near five-month long dispute involving the High Court, Court of Appeal and European Court of Human Rights, before he passed away in August.
Judges in many of these cases have explicitly called for parties to engage in mediation in an attempt to resolve their dispute at an earlier stage, something the project team hopes to make more of a viable option for affected parties in Scotland.
Expected to take around eight months to complete, the project will involve speaking to parents, carers and healthcare professionals who care for children with life-limiting conditions in the NHS Grampian area, in order to develop models to aid decision-making.
Funded by the NHS Grampian Endowment Fund, the project team is multi-disciplinary and includes Margaret Downie, also an academic strategic lead at RGU’s Law School; Dr Heather Morgan at the Institute of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Aberdeen; and Professor Steve Turner from NHS Grampian’s Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital.
Dr Sivers commented: “Tensions tend to arise in the tragic circumstance when a child’s medical condition has reached a point where there are no longer any treatment options capable of improving their condition, and where death is sadly inevitable.
“Families are, entirely understandably, desperate to look for any other possible option. However, healthcare professionals are faced with a situation where the only appropriate medical decision is to move to end-of-life palliative care.
“We anticipate the research to have an impact on all those involved in decision-making about the care of children at such a difficult time. It will create a local resource for parents and NHS staff to reduce the chance of a case coming to court, and help families and healthcare staff during extremely challenging conversations throughout Scotland.”