Doctors must not delay treating patients who are unable to consent over concerns of coercion

The vice president of the Court of Protection has again warned doctors not to delay treating patients who are unable to give consent to treatment because of concerns about having to coerce or restrain them.1

Mr Justice Hayden repeated the message he gave in January in the case of a 71 year old woman with a tumour on her face which became inoperable after delays in treating her.2

In the latest case, involving a woman in her 60s with grade 2 endometrial cancer, Hayden called the case into court …