Archie Battersbee parents seek grant for hospice move

• Archie Battersbee has been receiving life-sustaining care since April.
• His family have applied for legal permission to transfer him to a hospice.
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• The High Court is hearing the issue after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) denied their petition.

Archie Battersbee’s family has applied for legal authority to transfer him from the Royal London Hospital to a hospice.

After the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) denied a plea to postpone withdrawal of treatment, the High Court is now hearing the issue.

Archie’s mother stated that she wanted her son to “say goodbye in a tranquil hospice.”

Doctors have warned that moving him presents a “significant risk.”

Since April, Archie has been receiving life-sustaining care, including mechanical ventilation and pharmaceutical therapy.

It is thought that no adjustments to Archie’s care will be made while legal proceedings are ongoing.

Care was supposed to be terminated on Wednesday, but it was postponed while the ECHR considered his family’s petition.

The ECHR, on the other hand, stated that it “would not intervene” with UK court judgments, paving the door for care to be terminated.

Hollie Dance, Archie’s mother, later stated that the court struggle to delay the withdrawal of her son’s life support was “at an end.”

She stated in a statement: “I hope the High Court does the right thing.

“If they refuse to let us transfer him to a hospice and give him palliative oxygen, it will be barbaric and will have nothing to do with Archie’s “dignity.”

“We will fight to the end for Archie’s right to live.”

Ms Dance has stated that she wants her son to “say farewell and spend time with his family, unhindered by the noise and bustle” at a tranquil hospice.

According to the Christian Legal Centre, which is assisting the family, the application, which was made on Thursday morning, requested that Archie be transferred to a hospice and that palliative oxygen be administered once his ventilator is removed.

Mrs Justice Theis is hearing a case in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

In a letter to the family’s legal team, lawyers for Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs the Royal London Hospital, stated that any application to move Archie to a hospice would be “opposed on both a procedural and best interests basis.”

“The trust continues to put Archie’s welfare and best interests at the forefront of its decision-making about his care,” the letter said.