The Alfie Evans case has proven we have to change the law in favour of parents

RIP Alfie.

But should parents be treated in this way when it's their child's future that is at stake? What a waste of money in legal fees when it could have been settled out of court.

This is a far wider issue than just terminally ill babies :

"But this is a situation that could happen to any parent or carer, anywhere in the UK, at any time. Suddenly, your child could be involved in an accident or become gravely ill. On top of the shock and trauma, if the hospital chose to cease treatment, you would then face exactly the same legal fight as Alfie’s parents, and many before him. And the outcome would be the same – you would, in all likelihood, lose. "

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices...-a8326041.html

Re: The Alfie Evans case has proven we have to change the law in favour of parents

I'm speaking from my heart as a mum and grandmother . Maybe from ignorance in the eyes of some but I believe the doctors and specialists do their absolute best for sick children and remember they vowed to do all they can to save life when they took the oath . I don't believe they are light hearted when they say a child isn't going to have a quality of life when they truly feel it may be time to let go . I've never been in this awful situation and hope I never will, who knows how I would react if I was . But surely there comes a time if the child is so poorly and suffering , if they are unable to breath without tubes and machines as heart breaking as it is if you imagine their future life as they grow into teenagers and adults lying in a bed unable to do anything for themselves , is it kind to keep them alive .

These are my thoughts and feelings , and my heart goes out to those who have sick children .

Re: The Alfie Evans case has proven we have to change the law in favour of parents

This is one of those cases where neither side is right or wrong. On the hospitals side they were doing all they could against insurmountable odds to keep the child alive. On the parents side without any medical knowledge did what they thought was the best for the child

Which ever side one took the child chances of survival was very limited .
Should the law be changed? debatable . As this is a very rare illness I don't think so on just one single case, if it was one in XXX number then maybe

Re: The Alfie Evans case has proven we have to change the law in favour of parents

It must have been a terrible time for Alfies parents, but i think in most cases, the doctors know what they're doing, and act in the best interests of their patient. I think they did the right thing to refuse letting the baby leave hospital.
None of us can imagine how this last year has been for the parents, but they said on the news this morning they'd changed Solicitors 6 times. So they were getting told, not just by the hospital, but by the legal system.

Re: The Alfie Evans case has proven we have to change the law in favour of parents

This appears to sum up the court case well, and I agree wholeheartedly with the decision of the judge.

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Fam/2018/308.html

Re: The Alfie Evans case has proven we have to change the law in favour of parents

No I don't think "The Alfie Evans case has proven we have to change the law in favour of parents" because how can parents possibly have the knowledge and experience that the consultants and experts have in these sort of cases. The child must always come before the needs of the parents and I believe that is what has happened. The consultants do not make their decisions lightly and I believe they do their utmost to preserve life, particularly when that life is just at the beginning. We have to trust their judgement IMO.
My sympathies go out to the parents. Their grief must seem intolerable at this time.
I do not think that Alfie's situation should have received the wide publicity that it has and much of this has been generated by the parents. IMO this had added to the agony. RIP little Alfie. You are at rest now.
Alfie's parents are very young and I hope they will be able to come to terms with the tragedy of Alfie and that they will go on to have healthy children in the future.

Re: The Alfie Evans case has proven we have to change the law in favour of parents

I cannot agree with this report for several reasons.

1) Life support machines are very expensive and are designed to keep people alive who are likely to survive.

2) What would happen if a child, who was expected to survive, could not use a machine because a parent chose to keep a terminally ill child alive on one of the machines?

3) I agree that an unbiased doctor should be allowed to confirm that the child had no chance of life, but that must be a specialist in the field, that can be trusted to give an honest opinion and not we swayed by personal feelings. Who could decide on the best person.... certainly not the parents?

4) If another country think they can do better for the child, and the parents agree, would that country provide for the parents and the child until the child is recovered?

5) I would hope that ALL news papers would allow Alfie's parents to grieve for their child in peace, at this sad time, rather than using his death as a means of demonstrating what a caring paper they are

Re: The Alfie Evans case has proven we have to change the law in favour of parents

IMO this comes down to who has the right to decide what happens to us when it is deemed we no longer have capacity or in the case of a baby never had it.

I'm in favour of parents having the right to take a child out of the NHS and into the care of another qualified medical provider if they so wish. Hospitals should not be prison guards for patients if an alternative medical facility is requested.

I don't think it should have to go to court. If parents were given more freedom then it would not have to. It' a waste of taxpayer's money & court time.

Re: The Alfie Evans case has proven we have to change the law in favour of parents

Considering that this child has been in a vegetative state in excess of twelve months with no sign of any recovery, the decision to remove life support was the correct one. The parents stating that young Alfie was breathing unaided after life support was switched off were clutching at straws in the hope that he might make a miraculous recovery when in fact his days were numbered. Taking the child somewhere else for treatment would not have changed the outcome. The Pope giving false hope and the abusive gangs hovering round the hospital entrance didn't make the situation any easier, and the ambulance chasers encouraging the parents to sue over the child's treatment are the lowest of the low.

I do hope that Alfie's parents don't see his tragic death as a means of getting compensation from the NHS, everything was done to keep this child alive but to no avail.

Re: The Alfie Evans case has proven we have to change the law in favour of parents

In the T.V a child's life I think it was called ( it actually featured Alfie and his parents ) the doctors were speaking about this terrible dilemma .
There is a committee of doctors nurses and including a clergyman I believe who discuss these cases every week .
The decision to stop treatment is not taken lightly.
However once taken I do think the parents could have taken their child elsewhere .
It's a pity they could not just have flowen over a doctor from the Rome hospital to give his opinion it may have stifled any false hope .