Exploring the case of Townsend v Epsom
18 March 2026 | 17:00-18:00 | Teams | Free Webinar
The Court of Appeal judgment in Townsend v Epsom on 3 March 2026 appears to fundamentally change the law around medical treatment decisions, saying that the question of what treatment options to offer is a matter of a patient’s best interests, where they lack capacity for a decision about their medical treatment.
There is, the Court of Appeal said, “no carve out for clinical decisions”.
If that is right, the potential consequences are enormous and go far beyond the end of life care in ICU context in which the case arose, to cut across the whole of the health and social care system, including commissioning decisions.
Our analysis of the judgment is here Townsend v Epsom: Who decides about treatment options?
It is likely that there will be an appeal to the Supreme Court.
But in the meantime, there are questions about the extent to which this Court of Appeal judgment should change clinical practice now?
To discuss the context, the judgment and the practical implications, we have brought together a panel including Dr Sonya Daniel, Consultant Intensivist, and Vikram Sachdeva, KC of 39 Essex Chambers, for a panel hosted by Ben Troke, Partner at Weightmans.
