ABSTRACT
In the autumn of 2016 HN, a woman in her fifties, suffering mental illness, sustained severe shoulder injuries during an apparent suicide attempt. Some superficial injuries were healing, but several weeks later her fractured humerus rode up, presumably due to muscle spasm, and protruded through the skin. Her surgeon was concerned about sepsis, wishing to explore and debride the wound, with a view to future reconstruction. In this situation, the hospital was unable to rely on the Mental Health Act, since this provides authority only for compulsory treatment of diseases of the mind but no authority to treat HN's physical plight. The Mental Capacity Act can then be employed to authorise physical treatment if the patient lacks capacity, as well as any necessary deprivation of liberty. The court found, during a telephone hearing, that it was in the patient's best interests to have this relatively minor operation in order to prevent more serious harm, and it authorised the surgery.
