On Thursday I received an email in response to my ‘access to records’ request to Oxfordshire CCG and local authority:
I would be grateful if you could provide me with proof of your identity; a photocopy of the relevant page of your passport or driving licence and a recent utilities bill would be acceptable. I would also need consent from or proof that you are the personal representative of Connor Sparrowhawk to allow us to be able to release the above details. Please let me know if this causes any difficulties.
The rest of the day, in between the Oxford Mail photographer pitching up (twice) for a ‘sad’ photo shoot (picking among the dog shit in the back garden), a shortened chat with a BBC Ouch journalist, and a visit from the NHS England chosen lay representative on the Serious Case Review, was spent raging/howling on the phone to the NHS Central Southern Commissioning Support Unit about this request.
“You’re all (fucking) NHS at the end of the day? Why can’t you join the dots?” I raged. [Without the swearing].
I tried to explain my distress;
Our son with epilepsy was left to drown [howl] in the bath in a heavily staffed, hugely expensive, specialist unit over a year ago…
Nothing has happened in response to this. Despite an independent investigation and CQC inspection providing evidence that the place was appallingly run…
… and no. I am not prepared to go to a solicitors office and get an affidavit to ‘prove’ I’m his mum [their suggestion] to send with our leccy bill to release these documents.
Meanwhile, in the sunshine world of the NHS (according to all things Bubb) we received the response to a collective letter written to the chair of a Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Inquiry into person centred care in the 21st century. We’d written to say that the inclusion of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sloven on this panel (I know) was questionable given the ongoing investigation into LB’s death.
At a fairly basic level, if you are putting together a panel of experts, why include someone who is in charge of an organisation with an unfolding of set of failures around learning disability provision? Especially when the pool you could choose from ain’t that small.
Katrina Percy, CEO, didn’t have to account for herself in this exchange. There were no demands for utility bills. Or broader questions around legitimacy/credentials. Instead, a shutting down of any discussion;
The incident took place less than a year after Katrina took over responsibility for the service – and during a period when she was in fact on maternity leave.
Wow. Championing Katrina. What a defence of the individual rather than the role. Astonishing. Maternity leave simply ain’t relevant here. And the introduction of that little known construct of ‘practice CEO’ when all bets are off in terms of accountability for a year after acquisition. Wow. The world of the NHS certainly works in mysterious, opaque and chummy ways.
And no, I ain’t sending a futility bill or proof of birth. I quipped on twitter I’d have to send a bit of umbilical cord and someone replied ‘umbilical cord and a bucket of tears’. Yeah. That just about captures it.
mydaftlife 
I so wish I still had the memo Katrina Percy sent to all staff prior to taking maternity leave.
She explained that the chief operating Officer would cover her leave, but would be in regular contact. Gave the impression that any major events, she would be involved in.
No longer staff member, so can’t retrieve from email archive.
Thanks for this. No big surprise there. All mouth and no patient centred action.
Sick sick sick! ….Data Protection rules! Have to be seen as doing right thing now you have shone a light on their incompetencies! If all interested in doing the right thing…..why isn’t LB here? Incompetent, blase treatment again and again!! …..we need a skilled workforce, not just bums on seats! The numbers game is very expensive and highly dangerous!!
Ms Percy was NOT on Maternity Leave when Nico died. In fact she was kind enough to write to me explaining that “families of those people who have died while being supported by the Trust are actively offered meetings with managers to offer support, if needed”. Happily for them we didn’t need support – or rather should I say, no support meeting with managers was offered to us and the terribly busy Ms Percy was only able to let us know that, if needed, we could have had this support meeting 6 months after Nico died. So Ms Percy – sorry but your team doesn’t get to let you off of every inconvenient death that takes places on you watch. You take the wage, which I doubt is small, you take the awards, so guess what – you take the responsibility for every single letter, email and social media post that is put out in your name and the name of Southern Health. Including every heartless, needlessly cruel and smug one received by bereaved mums like Sara Ryan. But DO let us bereaved mothers know if you ever feel you need to have support…….but only if it’s needed of course.
Yep, all sounds soooo familiar! Can’t say I’ve had anything like your devastating situation but can certainly feel with you the despair and anger (howl, howl and howl again) over the complete and utter useless, time wasting, non listening, non understanding, non transparent high earning hierarchy of budget clampers employed within the LA’s. It seems they have an agender to deny care until there is a crisis then when the budget pinching ‘non support’ plan fails they lock our young dudes/ettes up in an ATU hundreds of miles away from their families!
Time wasting, bureaucratic nonsense…you wouldn’t believe it if you weren’t living it…Continue to be horrified…
I will mention this when I address the Society for the Study of Social Problems in 8 days. They make me beyond furious.
Oh Lord. I’m so sorry, this shamelessly insensitive and unclassy conduct is unbelievable…Coming soon at Slovan Health: Ian Brady and Robert Black panel experts at the annual Children’s Safeguarding Conference?