Leonie Hirst  - Healthcare and Serious Medical Treatment

Year of Call: 2006  

Chambers and Partners 2022, Band 2 (Court of Protection); Legal 500 2023, Tier 3 (Admin and Public Law)

Leonie’s experience includes SMT cases, many relating to DNAR notices for elderly/end of life patients. She has also appeared in a number of cases in the Court of Protection where treatment issues have been central. She recently appeared in the case of Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust v Q & Ors [2022] EWCOP in which she represented an individual whose advance decision to refuse medical treatment for a hypokalaemic condition caused by bulimia was upheld in the face of contrary expert evidence;  and another in which permanent contraception was required to enable a patient to be discharged from hospital under the MHA. Medical treatment issues, including access to treatment, commonly arise in Leonie’s work in the mental health, immigration, prison and other detention-related contexts, and in relation to that aspect of her practice which engages discrimination and human rights law.  

Read Leonie's full profile here.