Young boy’s family call for change to life-support cases

Relatives of Archie Battersbee, who died after his life support treatment was withdrawn last Saturday, have called for change in the way such cases are handled. The 12-year-old’s parents fought a legal battle to try to stop doctors, who believed Archie to be brain stem dead, from removing treatment. After that failed, they began a fresh legal challenge – also unsuccessful – for him to be moved to a hospice to die.

Archie had been in a coma since 7 April, when he was found unconscious by his mother, Hollie Dance, at his home in Essex. A legal battle against Barts Health NHS trust began in May before reaching its conclusion last Friday evening, when the European court of human rights declined to consider whether he should be moved to a hospice.

The Department of Health and Social Care is commissioning a review into the causes of disagreement in the care of critically ill children.