Why does the PS v the City of Sunderland case matter?
What are the key practice implications? The High Court confirmed that local authorities can forcefully intervene to protect vulnerable adults. Some have suggested that, pending new legislation, what is referred to as the Bournewood gap prevents this. This case shows that view to be incorrect. The High Court, under its “inherent jurisdiction”, can authorise a local authority to remove a vulnerable adult from abusive carers. The court can also allow an authority to prevent a vulnerable adult leaving, or being removed from, a care setting. How did the case arise? PS, an 82-year-old woman with dementia, was a hospital in-patient. By February 2007, she was fit for discharge. Her local authority, Sunderland, thought that she should be discharged to a specialist care home. Her daughter, however, objected. She wanted her mother to live with her. Sunderland was of the opinion that this would put PS at serious risk. Sunderland decided they had to act when they learned of the daughter’s secret pl
