Archie Battersbee cannot be moved to a hospice, High Court rules

An application to move Archie Battersbee into a hospice has been denied today by the High Court. 

The twelve-year-old’s family appealed for the move yesterday (August 4th), saying they wanted to ‘spend his last moments’ together with family privately and give him the opportunity to die ‘peacefully and privately’.

However, medical experts called the risks involved in a transfer to a hospice ‘major and unpredictable’, which the judge agreed with.

The judge has also refused permission to appeal against her ruling after lawyers for the family requested it.

Archie has been described by medics as being in a ‘difficult and increasingly compromised position’. 

Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs the Royal London Hospital where Archie is being treated, has said that the youngster’s condition is too unstable for him to be transferred.

They argued that moving him to a hospice via ambulance ‘would most likely hasten the premature deterioration the family wish to avoid, even with full intensive care equipment and staff on the journey’.

The hospital has said a number of arrangements can be made for the family that will ‘ensure that Archie’s best interest will remain the focus of the final arrangements to enable him peacefully and privately to die in the embrace of the family he loved’. 

The family may now pursue a challenge directly with the Court of Appeal, with Mrs. Justice Theis today granting a stay on the withdrawal of treatment until 2pm today to allow time for an appeal to be lodged.

Justice Theis said of her ruling, as per Sky News: “Archie’s best interests must remain at the core of any conclusions reached by this court. I return to where I started, recognising the enormity of what lays ahead for Archie’s parents and the family.

“Their unconditional love and dedication to Archie is a golden thread that runs through this case. I hope now Archie can be afforded the opportunity for him to die in peaceful circumstances, with the family who meant so much to him as he clearly does to them.”

Archie was found unconscious in his home in Essex back in April after taking part in what his mother, Hollie Dance, believes to be an online challenge.

Archie has never regained consciousness, and doctors say it is ‘highly likely’ the child is brain stem dead and is only alive through artificial means. His condition has been the centre of a highly-publicised legal battle, with his parents fighting to keep his life support switched on to ‘give him time to recover’.