Judge criticises NHS trust for disclosure failures
A judge in Britain has criticised an NHS trust for significant disclosure failures in a case concerning whether life-sustaining treatment should be withdrawn from a seriously ill child.
Mrs Justice Morgan described the handling of disclosure as “enormously disrespectful” and “professionally beyond discourteous” after it emerged that over 3,000 pages of material, previously claimed to be unavailable, were disclosed just days before the scheduled trial.
The case, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust v KB & Ors, involved an urgent application by the trust to withdraw life-sustaining treatment from a child.
Despite concerns over the late disclosure, the judge refused to adjourn the hearing, citing the urgency of the situation. The application to withdraw treatment was ultimately dismissed, and a fresh hearing was ordered to address the disclosure issues.
The NHS trust’s barrister revealed just four days before the trial that an additional 800 pages of medical records had been “discovered”, despite earlier assurances that no further documents were forthcoming.
Serious concerns
This raised serious concerns about the trust’s preparation and transparency in the case.
The judge required a personal assurance from a senior official in both the trust’s legal and medical departments that all relevant documents had been disclosed.
Vacate hearing
The parents' legal team applied to vacate the hearing due to lost preparation time, but the judge ruled that the trial date would stand, though the start was delayed by two days.
The trust’s legal-services manager issued a formal apology, acknowledging the oversight and assuring the court that changes had been made to improve disclosure procedures.
The judge said medical records must be indexed earlier and a designated person responsible for ensuring full disclosure in future cases.
Despite the apology, the judge warned that disclosure failings in such serious cases could undermine trust in the judicial process, especially in life-or-death decisions for children.