Staff who treated Charlie Gard allowed to remain anonymous

  • An NHS trust will keep the privacy of their employees over Charlie Gard case
  • Bosses believed that their doctors and nurses could be harassed by the public 
  • The brain-damaged boy was denied treatment and taken off life support in July

Bosses at an NHS trust who wanted to stop providing life-support treatment to a brain-damaged baby boy have won an anonymity fight after telling a High Court judge that doctors and nurses might be harassed by members of the public.

They said staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London received abuse after a judge ruled that 11-month-old Charlie Gard should be allowed to die earlier this year – and raised fears of a similar reaction.

Their lawyers also told Mr Justice Moor that publication of the trust’s name might create an information ‘jigsaw’ which could lead to the three-week-old baby being identified.

Connie Yates and Chris Gard, pictured, leaving the Supreme Court after losing their appeal to compel doctors at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital to continue to treat their son Charlie Gard

Journalists from The Daily Mail and Press Association argued the public had a right to know the identity of hospital authorities asking judges to make such life-and-death decisions.

But Mr Justice Moor ruled in favour of trust bosses.

He gave permission for doctors to stop providing life-support treatment and said the trust, which has responsibility for the baby’s care, could be referred to only as ‘an NHS trust in the Midlands’ in an any media report.

The judge, who analysed the case at a hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London on Thursday, said he was satisfied there was a ‘remote’ chance of staff being harassed, and was satisfied there was a chance of an information ‘jigsaw’ being created.

He oversaw the case at a private hearing but said journalists could report his decisions. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk