Facts: the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust assessed LW, who was seriously disabled, as requiring three/four days each week and at a residential unit, spending the rest of the time at home, and in both settings receiving substantial personal care. However, several years on, neither the residential unit, nor all the personal care required, had been provided.

Judgment: McCloskey J held that the Trust was in breach of duty under section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons (Northern Ireland) Act 1978, whether one construed the section as giving rise to a duty to meet assessed needs, or a duty to act reasonably in meeting assessed needs. The provision of accommodation was under the power, at article 15 of the Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 but once a need had been assessed, the Trust was under a duty to meet it. The Trust had been in breach of that duty for some years, whether one construed the assessment under article 15 as giving rise to a duty to meet assessed needs, or a duty to act reasonably in meeting assessed needs.