Judgments
Health Service Spending Priorities
25/05/10
James Goudie QC, leading David Lock, and instructed by David Widdowson and Nadia Persaud of Bevan Brittan, appeared for the Berkshire West Primary Care Trust in a claim brought by a male to female transsexual seeking breast augmentation surgery, who challenged the funding policies and decisions of the PCT in relation to which treatments will be routinely funded and which will not. Bean J dismissed the claim. The Judge found that the PCT’s funding priorities were rational, that proper consideration had been given to weather there were exceptional circumstances, and that the PCT had been entitled to regard the case as comparable to a natal woman who perceived that her breasts were inadequate and suffered mild to moderate depression. Bean J further found that, although there had been no equality impact assessment, there was no breach of the PCT’s duty to have regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination against transsexuals and to promote equality of opportunity between transsexuals and non-transsexuals.
