We’re very aware, through various avenues, that Katrina Percy would like to meet with us. The subtext is that ‘this is a good thing’. It’s important for her to hear, first hand, our ‘story’. It’s clearly a ‘good thing’ for various bodies that we ‘move on’. (I’m trying to forget this statement from a Sloven employee on local television news because it makes my head howl, but there was also the email from a commissioner stating that they didn’t want to publicly finger Sloven for the blame.)

I think our ‘story’ is captured on these pages. If you don’t want to read back, try to imagine having your heart wrenched out, scorched to a crisp and crushed into dust in front of you…

Got that?

It don’t come within a sniff.

Our beautiful and remarkable dude was completely defenceless. Sloven, the local authority and the Clinical Commissioning Group had a duty of care to keep him safe. All three bodies really (effectively) took this duty, chucked it in the nearest skip and then, when the most devastating thing imaginable happened, tried to cover their own, or each others, backs.

If LB hadn’t died, the same beyond shite provision would be in place. No one (other than the constantly and effectively sidelined, excluded and silenced families) would be any the wiser.

Our son died.

Every single day I go to bed thinking about this. Every single day I wake to the pain of remembering it. A constant pain that varies from sheer agony to a dull ache of intense sadness (on a ‘good’ day).

Meeting the CEO of the most immediate piece of the jigsaw of shiteness isn’t high on our list of things to do. It doesn’t feature at all to be honest. And we wouldn’t be thinking about it (well Rich ain’t) other than this ‘should’ biz. Not least because the potential cost to us of having to listen to some fake, PR informed, pre-rehearsed bullshite is too awful to imagine. (Phil Gayle’s legendary interview with the CEO on local BBC radio is probably no longer available but a razor sharp summary is available here).

In the spirit of lack lustre engagement I tweeted earlier inviting thoughts about this.

The responses were a mixed bag of thoughtful and considered responses (click on ‘load more’ for further responses)

Thank you. We remain unconvinced. But remain open to a good ‘should’…

[An afterthought. I cried while writing this post. I don’t always].