The parents of a terminally ill six-year-old girl are hoping that a court will intervene and overturn a hospital’s alleged decision to deny her further intensive care treatment.
Amber Hartland suffers from a rare brain disorder called Infantile Tay-Sachs which has left her almost totally paralysed.
She needs intensive treatment when she gets chest infections, but her parents say that doctors at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, have told them she is now at the end of her life and will not be admitted to intensive care in future.
Lesley and Nick Hartland, of Cwmbran, South Wales, are now awaiting a court decision after Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust asked it to decide “on the best course of action”.
Mrs Hartland told BBC Radio Wales that Amber’s doctors had been “absolutely superb”, but added that her daughter had the right to life. “We believe it is about money, because Amber costs money,” she continued.
A spokesman for Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust said it could not discuss details of the case, but said that Amber had “never received less than the highest level of care”.
“Amber is now receiving active treatment in our specialist Paediatric Intensive Care Unit and we will continue to put Amber’s best interests first,” said medical director Ian Lane.
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