On Saturday, the government confirmed to Sky News that it was looking closely at correspondence from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, after the UN intervened in the case to apply interim measures to the UK barring any moves to withdraw treatment. Archie has been reliant on a machine to breathe since being admitted to hospital on April 7 after being found unconscious at home by his mother in Southend, Essex. The Government Legal Department further requests that the letter be brought before an out-of-hours judge immediately. Archie is due to withdraw from treatment at 2pm on Monday. Doctors treating him at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, say he is brain-stem dead and continued life-support treatment is not in his best interests. Archie’s mother Hollie Dance previously sent a letter to Health Secretary Steve Barclay urging him to help save her son’s life. Mrs Dance said Barts Health NHS Trust, which is treating her son, has given her details of how doctors will withdraw treatment and leave the family to watch him die. Responding to the Government Legal Department’s letter to the High Court, Ms Dance said: “We are relieved that the Government has taken the UN intervention seriously. This was not a “request” but an order for interim measures from the UN. “The anxiety of being told that Archie’s life support will be taken off tomorrow at 2pm. A High Court judge had ruled that ending treatment was in Archie’s best interests after reviewing evidence from clinicians and said the boy’s prognosis was “bleak”. Archie has not regained consciousness since April 7 and Ms Dance said she believes he may have taken part in an online challenge.
