Parents of terminally-ill Alta Fixsler and Manchester hospital in fresh court battle over right to die at home

Published date29 August 2021
The Manchester Evening News reported last week how her parents Chaya and Abraham, an Orthodox Jewish couple, have rented a flat in Salford which they believe is suitable for their two-year-old daughter to spend her final hours.

The couple have exhausted all legal options in trying to prevent Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust MFT from withdrawing life-sustaining care.

READ MORE: 'Why can't our child die at home'

Alta suffered severe brain damage after being born prematurely at 34 weeks in December 2019 and has never left hospital.

The Fixslers, who have joint US-Israeli citizenship, wanted to fly her out of the UK to try offers of alternative treatment.

However, doctors at MFT say Alta is able to feel pain and it would not be in her 'best interests' to allow her to travel abroad.

High Court judge Mr Justice MacDonald ruled in favour of the Trust in May.

The Fixslers cannot accept that Alta should be allowed to die -but their final wish is that she should be able to do so at home with her family where they will feel 'comfortable'.

They say it is also important so that they are able to observe certain Jewish customs.

The High Court ruling stated it could be possible for Alta to go home if there was agreement with the Trust.

But now Alta's medical team have written to the High Court to make clear they believe that the withdrawal of mechanical ventilation should take place either in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit or Derian House, a hospice in Chorley, Lancashire.

A report from a specialist paediatric doctor concluded that the Fixslers' flat is 'inaccessible' to the particular type of trolley that Alta requires to be transported.

The High Court application also states that the Trust believes the couple would be unable to meet Alta's palliative care needs.

The skills required include 'management of Alta’s tracheostomy, safe oxygen administration, feed administration and medication management,' the application says.

"This adds a considerable burden to parents and these factors explain why withdrawal of mechanical ventilation at home is so rarely undertaken; only once or twice each year," the application states.

The parents have argued that they have had tracheotomy training and that they only require a 'fresher course' to be able to look after Alta.

They also supplied video evidence from Hatzola, the community ambulance service, showing that a bariatric stretcher was able to enter the property without issue.

However, the Trust's application states...

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