The Kings’ story is by now well-known: a little boy with a brain tumour, whose parents wanted to seek alternative treatment, but who were bullied into not doing so by medical professionals in the hospital. Without breaking the law, the family decided to leave the country to get the treatment they wanted for their son. Treatment they had researched and knew was available and viable. The parents were then arrested under suspicion of child neglect and detained in Spain where they had travelled, leaving their five-year old son in a hospital on his own for three days.
Luckily for the Kings, the debacle caused a furore around the world and a petition was signed by over 200,000 people to have Ashya’s parents removed from prison, and restored to his bedside. But how did we get to a point where knee-jerk reactions carry such far-reaching consequences? Consequences which still hang over the Kings’ heads as they must now deal with a languishing Wardship Order, which continues to severely restrict their duties and responsibilities as parents.
A few months ago, I went to my then GP, to ask if I could have a test for something. I didn’t know whether I had this ailment, but some of my family members did, and I suspected my ill-health was, for want of a better word, related. My GP was outraged that I had dared to ask for this test. He spent the remaining allocated ten minutes of my session bullying me and trying to belittle me. He gave me his diagnosis, without even checking me or suggesting other tests. I left the surgery feeling embarrassed, upset and certain that the diagnosis was wrong. So what had I done to deserve such treatment, during a time when I was feeling really quite poor?
Medical professionals have for a long time wielded total power over their patients. We came to them for advice, and their word was law. With the advent of the internet, more networks online which allow us to discuss things with others and an increased awareness that professionals’ opinions can and do vary on any singular topic, the public have become braver, and better informed than ever.
Communication then, is a vital part of any professional’s arsenal. In a world where clients and patients may well come to the table with preconceived notions, which may not necessarily be right, it is up to professionals to move with the times and learn to engage in discussion, rather than shut families down when they are trying to explore the best possible options for care. Especially when vulnerable children are involved.
But is there more to this scenario than just professional arrogance gone wild? Services like hospitals and social work authorities are struggling to find the time to really engage with families and get to know them. Even an extra ten minutes sometimes is all it takes – but very few families have the opportunity today to sit down with a professional and really talk. And if medical and social care relies on communication to get the job done, then what are we really doing if we can’t even lay the foundations of proper professional practice any more?
I noticed in one interview I gave this week on the King’s case that I mentioned the parents were looking to sue the hospital and the police for the way they had been treated. This interview oddly seems to be missing today, but whilst it may be a controversial point, it is one worth mentioning. Very rarely do people sue if they feel they have been treated with civility and respect. In this case, the Kings appeared to have suffered not just with poor medical advice, but with the kind of arrogance that mocks the ‘ill-informed’ lesser party and most worryingly, endangers lives.
And so, it is all about communication. The Kings’ ordeal will soon be over, but the memory of not being there for their son at a time he needed them most will haunt them all forever. Indeed, the Kings claim now that this time apart so badly affected their son, that he began to deteriorate without them. And for my part, I had to find out what my own ailment was, on my own. And in the end, my GP had misdiagnosed me and I had to find out by myself, what was wrong and how to treat it. Which I did, thanks to my family, and the internet.
The moral of this story must surely be, that whilst professionals may still be an important resource for us all, they must remember that they can only survive if they engage with their patients in a meaningful way and remember that how they communicate is the most important aspect of their work. After all, it is this kind of basic connection that saves lives.
Steve Connor visits the pioneering clinic where Ashya will soon be treated – and is hugely impressed (Image and caption courtesy of The Independent)
Researching Reform 
YYes.
it is also an open and shut case of medical negligence.
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Many thanks, Richard. I think so too.
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My mind is running more along misfeasance in public office & malicious prosecution lines.
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Thanks Michael. From what I understand the family have been advised to go with criminal slander and false imprisonment.
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Professional arrogance is rife in almost all aspects of life, but particularly it seems in the Family Courts and in social work and also now it seems in medical matters, though I recently had to go to Hospital and I have to say I was kept informed and treated with civility and respect.
Many professionals are in ‘public service’. I think they should ponder on this description and ask themselves whether they are substituting ‘self-service’ for what they should be doing.
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There are lots of good professionals out there; I get to come across them in my own life so I know they’re alive and well, but I’d like them to be the rule, rather than the exception.
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Maybe the most important question to ask is this:- ” How is it possible that doctors,social workers,and the authorities that employ them can command the services of interpol to pursue in other countries persons who have been neither convicted of or even suspected of committing a serious crime?”
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I think to my mind at least, if a child is suspected to be in trouble, that’s good enough for me. However, there needs to be real reasons behind the suspicion, not ones brought about by a lack of communication and most possibly, professional chagrin, as was the case, I believe, with Ashya King.
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The Guardian had a good piece about the case citing the ‘heavy handed and rigid’ approach some NHS representatives take. Threatening the parents with the ‘Court of Protection’ is blackmail. Such a NHS specialist is abusing power and unfit to practice. Just put in the name of the cancer and the treatment in Google and you can see that there are numerous papers explaining clearly the advances and advantages. The ‘Gods in White’ at Southampton Hospital brush aside all alternatives, present themselves as infallible and order a witch hunt.
Look at http://www.forced-adoption.com to see how Family Courts snatch children away from loving parents. Read on the WWW how the ‘Court of Protection’ fleeces pensioners off their life savings feeding the cabals of authority representatives, and e.g. orders the removal of all healthy teeth of a youngster to prevent ‘self-harm’. The ‘right to die’ misguided debate needs to be seen from the realities of state excesses that are already happening on a daily basis in the UK – state sponsored Child trafficking, robbery and – next – euthanasia. Police are also abusing their power.
The parents lost confidence in Southampton NHS and no offence was committed. The hospital response talked only about ‘survival’ – how about quality of life? There was also no acknowledgement of the requests by Mr King e.g. letter written. Child is still ‘ward of the court’ – if the case was not in the public eye ‘Forced Adoption’ proceedings would be the ‘typical’ response. The UK authority representatives supposed to help citizens increasingly do just the opposite.
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Many thanks for your thoughts, AI.
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May the king case be the opening portal to the exposure of all the other similar cases in UK etc, where the parents were gagged before they could go public. Where mothers were branded criminals – Munch mums for giving their children cancer to draw attention to themselves. No one questioned the insanity of this. Same now in Eire- for mothers of children born with spina bifida etc.
Mention it on the web and the judge sends you warnings as s/he aids and abets cruel sadistic social workers and medical “professionals”
The King case shows man’s inhumanity to man.
We said it could never happen after Hitler and the SS. Yet here we are in 2014 using Hitler’s SS slogan “in the best interests of the child”
As we use Hitler’s SS energy signature, there can be no change.
People need to research the funding of medical trials too where children are the guinea pigs. If parents do not consent, a care order is issued and the children then make up the number and funding given.
Always follow the ££££££££££.
Names of children were also posted for a while- naming the ones who died and who were over dosed, etc.
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Thank you for your thoughts, Catherine. Although I like to remain hopeful, over the years I’ve come to conclusion that most governments don’t care what the truth is, even if proven. Things are going to change because the public are going to force it – that’s my view.
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A thoughtful piece, Natasha and I have had my run ins with the NHS myself.
The first time was over my mother’s care. She was given the rather ambiguous diagnosis of “Multi-personality disorder” which I fought. The original diagnosis was overturned and she was given the diagnosis that I have always known she had, schizophrenia.
Not only that, the hospital despite the psychiatrist’s request for family involvement, the hospital had poor communication levels with the family. That family is me. Her section 2 was rescinded without disclosing this information to me and I eventually went to my MP to ensure she was sectioned for another 28 days. This was needed while I found her somewhere safe to live and as previously, my mother had been abused by local people who were taking her money from her. It was for her safety, I do not go around requesting my mother be sectioned foolishly. The hospital ward and the staff were paltry at communication with me. I am not disputing their professionalism or their training, but there were clear gaps in her care that I could have worked with the ward on to ensure my mother engaged with the services. Multi-disciplinary meetings were held and one social worker swore blind she had left me a voicemail, she did not.
The second time was with a consultant over surgery I was having. The consultant was removed, distant and was not used to dealing with someone who knew her rights. This is my body and I have had it for 43 years (at that time) and I could not bond with this consultant who had made a mistake with a wire insertion she had ordered on the day of my surgery. This was not agreed with the clinical director of that department.
The long and short of that one, was that I insisted on a second opinion via my GP who worked with me to secure this and all was well. I also wanted my pathology records, I have had medial treatment in Austria and there, you are given all your pathology notes on the day so you can take them to another doctor. I requested via my GP copies of my pathology notes and was told “They are not my notes to give to you and I do not see how this will help you” She was right in one way, they were not her notes, they were mine.
I eventually wrote away for my notes and within a week, my pathology notes were in my letterbox.
Back to the Kings and little Aysha King. Mr & Mrs King were invested in gaining the best treatment for their son as any loving parent would. The breakdown of the relationship between the hospital and the parents is clear here and the hospital, under the guise of “in the best interests of the child” instigated a European hunt and the ex parte wardship hearing. If this can happen to these parents, who knows who else it has happened to?
I have the utmost respect for the NHS and those who work within it, but like the MoJ and other government departments, it has a habit of treating people as though they are devoid of any intelligence.
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Thank you for your post, Tracey. I’m so sorry you and your mother experienced what you did – I wish it wasn’t a common occurrence, but sadly it seems to be. We are slowly discovering that every human body is truly unique and that one size does not fit all, so with that in mind, we need our medical professionals to be really immaculate with their diagnoses and their patient care. Whilst there are many excellent health professionals within the NHS, we do need, I think, to get back to the building blocks of medicine, which have always been about good observation skills and, of course, patient engagement.
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Thank you, Natasha.
It was three years ago now and I now have an established relationship with the care agency who have been most professional throughout this time. Without the input of that agency, I would have had to care for my mother entirely or place her in residential care.
Patient care and communication with family is where I felt it was quite broken in my mother’s case. It was not the medical aspect, the communication was appalling. The hospital knowing full well I was her advocate, had an advocate visit her as they were encouraging her to go into residential care and this terrified my mother.
It was a constant battle to support my mother. Three years on, we have an excellent social worker who contacts me at every opportunity she needs to and she is discharged from the hospital and now under the care of the CMHT who visit once every six months.
They have to do better at engaging with family and/or parents. This would never happen in the countries I have lived in. The keeping of notes and “releasing” what they feel is suitable is state control.
I see now the Kings have been “given” permission for Aysha to receive treatment in Prague. Permission that is allowed by that wardship which was completely unnecessary. State control at its most vice-like.
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I agree, communication is key. And don’t get me started on the wardship order – Why Munby feels it necessary to drag these parents to the UK at such a critical time is beyond me. Appalling stuff.
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Exactly – have listened to your radio interview.
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Many thanks, Tracey.
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Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
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Hi Natasha, Personally I look at medical consultants as being similar to car mechanics. They both look to make a diagnosis. A bit simplistic but their diagnosis depends not just on experience but what speciality in medicine they studied. You wouldn’t take advice about gynaecological matters from a brain surgeon, but some basic things may overlap and even within the same field there are different points of view. A GP is just that, a general practioner.
Having said that, advice and treatment is often given or not according to many factors. If you have financial constraints within a clinic or hospital that may decide if the treatment you get is the best available or even available! Some NHS consultants have a private practice and despite being paid to work in one hospital may work privately in another. I don’t think the Liverpool Care Pathways just happened and its my belief they still exist all be it with a different name. A lot of chatter about how celebs want to die and not be a burden seems to be promoting euthanasia! I would love it if they said they were deterimined to give the grim reaper a run for his money!
Catherine has a point about research and I was shocked to hear that children in care have been used as guinea pigs for research! Parents who refused their children the MMR and were told they were putting their children in danger as well as being neglectful have been somewhat vindicated as current thinking shows a definite link with autism! The level of ADHD meds given to children especiall those in care,have reached an all time high too! Big Pharma, medicines or equpment, pays well and doctors will promote their products and reap the benefits. Money talks and statins and high blood pressure meds are shouting! Only tooday Cancer research is warning that doctors have been told to reduce NHS referals for Cancer checks in a bid to save money!
Someone at the top makes the decisions and balances the books. We do well to arm ourselves with as much information as possible to confirm or challenge what is being promoted at the time! There may well be an ulterior motive!
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Hi Dana, have you read Pin Down? It’s living proof that children in care have been used as guinea pigs, in the most horrendous ways imaginable.
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Hi Natasha, I haven’t read the book Pin Down but having read via the internet about Pin Down, if I were a social worker, I would be ashamed to call myself a social worker! No wonder the government wants to change their name! The atrocities the social services/government inflicted upon the children in Leicestershire is no different to what happened in Rochdale and Rotherham, in fact worse, when you consider these children were in the “care” of social services! This was not in the last century but recently in the 80s! Just like Rochdale & Rotherham, I have no doubts that this torture of children was happening nationwide! These children should have felt safe but instead were tortured, yes tortured and still no one was held accountable and prosecuted! What does a social worker have to do, to be sent to prison for crimes inflicted upon children?!!
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Yes, it’s awful. I worked for the lady who wrote the book, a really nice woman. She was subjected to the most awful things as a child in care. Really worth a read.
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Natasha, There is another book The Fear of the Collar about the atrocities inflicted upon children in Ireland in the industrial schools. Considered by those who knew of the realities, to be a mild portrayal of the torture perpetrated by those “looking after the children!” I still have the voice of a man who was there at the time, who gave me the book and said” He got off lightly! He must have been one of the favourites!”. This same man considered to be a “hard” man could not bring himself to relive his experiences to the panel of investigators for the Irish Government, despite the end result of compensation! Frankly the compensation should have been distributed to ALL the children, not just the ones who applied. The government had all the names so they didn’t need to give graphic explanations! The Irish Government did apologise to the victims while the victims in the UK are still awaiting theirs!
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Many thanks for that, D.
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Fear of the Collar is out of print, I wonder why???
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Typical.
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To be fair, it was first published on 1991 but there are 120 secondhand copies currently on abebooks.co.uk, starting at 62p 🙂
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🙂
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@Dana regarding ‘There may well be an ulterior motive!’
Have a look at this website http://www.paracelsustrust.co.uk/
Surf the various sites of the various therapists who deal with the aftermath of certain establishments people’s ‘ulterior motive’.
Extreme abuse networks are behind Jimmy Saville etc. kind of abuse and much more.
Who are the biggest beneficiaries of ‘Forced Adoption’?
The Adoption Industry making money, and those who are ‘game keeper’ and ‘poacher’ simultaneously.
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Thank you Michael. It was some time ago I was told it was out of print. Good to know it can still be obtained. Its worth a read. Artane was considered the worst of the worst! The man who told me about the horrific treatment meted out by the “brothers”, ended up with a deep hatred of them and their religion. While the physical scars healed, the emotional ones never did and tainted his life!
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