ABSTRACT
Allowing recommended medical treatment to be undertaken is generally seen as promoting the welfare of the child, or at least not being sufficiently against it to warrant judicial intervention, and either parents or competent children can give consent. However, where treatment is refused, it may more clearly bring a range of other factors into play, such as personal values and social and cultural concerns, that challenge the priority that it is often assumed should be given to medical benefit (Bridge, 1999a).1 As in the previous chapter, I will deal with children who lack capacity first, followed by those who may have it.
