Alfie Evans: Medical experts speak out about 'guerrilla warfare tactics' being used against family and doctors

People have attempted to storm the hospital and there have been reports of doctors being threatened

Medical experts have spoken out about how angry and dismayed they are by the treatment of Alfie Evans' family and doctors.

23-month-old Alfie Evans has become a famous cause both in the UK and across the world amid arguments about how he should be treated. Doctors argue that he has undergone all of the possible treatment for his mysterious condition and that the best course of action is to remove his life support – but protestors claim that more could be done, despite the opinion of experts.

Those protestors, who claim to be supporting the family in their fight to have their child receive more treatment, have attempted to storm the hospital and have led aggressive campaigns online. Some doctors have reported receiving threats, police have had to warn people to stay away from the hospital and there have been suggestions in online posts that protestors could set off fire alarms at the hospital and other tactics to attempt to bring their cause to attention.

Daniel Sokol, a medical ethicist and barrister, attacked the tactics of some of those supporters.

“As the legal routes are blocked time and time again, the tactics of some sections of Alfie’s Army are those of guerrilla warfare: threats, insults, and intimidation," he said. "The clinicians, the NHS, the government and the judiciary are painted as the vile and heartless enemy. Facts and motives are twisted to suit the aim, which is to put unbearable pressure on the hospital and its clinicians, until they crack.

“It is ugly and distressing for the many victims of these tactics, but it has kept Alfie Evans in the front pages and captured the attention and support of high profile figures and governments. There is a real risk that these guerrilla tactics will become the norm in ‘best interest’ cases involving children, which would be disastrous.”

Legal experts said that the protestors are mistaken that doctors are intentionally withholding treatment for any reason other than their medical opinion, and that protestors should ensure that they are able to continue to do their jobs.

"I am dismayed that the protestors and the threats to prosecute doctors at Alder Hey are distracting from the attempts of the parents, health professionals and the judges to focus on what is best for Alfie Evans," said Jonathan Montgomery, professor of health care law at University College London.

"“There can be no doubt that Alfie’s highly experienced medical team have done everything in their power to give him the best chance at life. They have been supporting his life for over a year. There can be no doubt either that Alfie’s parents are devoted to him. The fact that this has led them to a different conclusion shows how difficult the case is."

Writing in The Independent, intensive care doctor Samantha Batt-Rawden criticised the people who have attempted to use the Alfie Evans case for their own ends, saying she is "indescribably angry at those who prey on parents at their most vulnerable, offering them hope where tragically there is none". She also criticised some of the protestors who claim to be supporting the family, and the way they have upset parents and got in the way of treatment of other very sick children.

"Perhaps worse still are the deplorable actions of those that claim to support Alfie," she wrote. "Just two days ago, members of 'Alfie’s Army' stormed the doors of Alder Hey, a hospital full of sick children who are already frightened. A terrified parent begged on Facebook for Alfie’s Army to reconsider their plans to set off the fire alarms at Alder Hey, as her own child was on the operating table and 'deserved a chance too'."

Medical experts have taken pains to make clear that the entire case is being decided on the basis of Alfie's best interests, despite disputes between the family, judges and doctors around him.

“Decisions on whether to withdraw treatment from a child are unfortunately ones that need to be made frequently," said Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. "The model is always for doctors to work closely with parents to agree on the best course of action for the child.

"In the vast majority of cases an equal decision is made to withdraw treatment and it is rare that there is disagreement. The cases where this is a significant difference in view are the ones that grab the media headlines."