Amazing how a bit of a public outcry changes things......

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussion' started by Fat Controller, Sep 2, 2014.

  1. Fat Controller

    Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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    The parents of Ashya King have been allowed to leave prison - BBC article

    It beggars belief how this whole situation was allowed to escalate the way it did in the first place to be honest - if ever there was a case of jobsworths pushing their boundaries too far, this has to be it, and all involved in vilifying these parents should be sacked.

    The other thing that I simply don't understand is why the treatment that they are seeking could not have been done here in the UK; I read an article the other day that mentioned that it is used in the UK, but only for cancers/tumours related to the eye - - yet apparently it will be more widely available by 2018.

    One can therefore only assume that its financial constraints that are stopping this treatment being tried in this case....... so, we can't afford to treat a young child at the start of his life, but we can afford an international witch-hunt? We can afford gender-reassignment and plastic surgery such as breast augmentations, but we can't afford to treat life threatening conditions such as cancer, fully and properly?

    This world really disgusts me sometimes.
     
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    • clueless1

      clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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      I mostly agree FC, but....

      In plod's defence, they had been led to believe that they were putting the child in mortal danger. We as the public would have kicked off if the kid really had been in danger, the coppers had done nowt, and the kid had died a few days later.

      Our NHS is in dire straits. Its not cheap paying a private company with no expertise in anything except employing numbers just to take advantage of government procurement guidelines. By the time all the many layers of vital pseudomanagement have been paid, there's no much left in the kitty for such low priority things as actual life-saving treatment.
       
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      • Phil A

        Phil A Guest

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        Right from the start this never should have been pursued. There was never any danger to the child other than the lack of suitable treatment from the health care here. The parents are doing their best to get the best care for their child.

        If I was the Dad i'd not only be suing the authorities, i'd be tracking down the copper responsible and i'd be planting my fist squarely on his jaw.

        How dare they treat this like a kidnapping?
         
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        • clueless1

          clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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          The hospital staff reported it to the police, told the coppers the child would deteriorate rapidly within 24 hours without treatment, and then just for good measure, told the coppers the parents were Jehova's Witnesses, the intended implication being that they would let their child die.

          I'm usually the last to defend plod, but I think they've done the best they could on the information they had. It didn't take long for them to drop the case once they learned that the initial picture that had been painted for them was very wrong.
           
        • Phil A

          Phil A Guest

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          Yes, the Jehovah's bit would have set alarum bells ringing, but it should have been stopped long before it got to this stage.

          I've sprung my Daughter from hospital as I know what social services are like when they get their hooks into you. I've every sympathy for this family, and not much for the authorities who think they can control every aspect of their life.

          I can't begin to think what they must be going thru to have their Son taken away from them when every day is so precious ???
           
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          • Fat Controller

            Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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            Fair enough, but surely they didn't have to go for a full-on arrest warrant? Could they not have asked the Spanish authorities to interview and liaise with the family, but still leave them in touch with the wee lad?


            Agreed, loads of money wasted, and very tight budgets - yet there is money in the kitty to put boobs on a bloke? I know its very un-PC of me, but surely the NHS should be there almost solely for life-threatening diseases and illnesses? I'm not for one second saying that people shouldn't be allowed gender re-assignment or plastic surgery - but why should it be free? Especially when we have people dying with conditions that we supposedly cannot afford to treat?
             
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            • Phil A

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              I might even go and chin the copper and the hospital responsible for hitting the red button myself.

              It's absolutely outrageous :paladin:
               
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              • Sheal

                Sheal Total Gardener

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                Apparently the NHS have offered to pay for this child's treatment abroad.

                Although I understand the reason for this child's parents taking him from the hospital, wouldn't it have been simpler for them to tell the staff what they intended to do instead of snatching him without a word. I think the hospital staff were right to involve the police, anyone could have taken him.
                 
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                • Fat Controller

                  Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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                  Did they snatch him though Sheal? Or was it more a case where they had researched and found the treatment, asked about availability, to then go on and state their intentions to pursue that treatment elsewhere only to be told that they would be doing so against (UK) medical advice and as such the hospital would not discharge the wee fella, leaving them with little option but to spring him out of hospital and head off to get the treatment they believe will work.

                  To be honest, the hospital doesn't really have much credibility left in this one, so their assertion that the child was 'taken' doesn't really hold much water with me; 'taken' could well translate to 'well, we couldn't provide the treatment so we can't recommend it, therefore pursuing it would be against our medical advice' . Their silence speaks volumes really.

                  However, they were still right to flag this up to the police - it was the portrayal that was wrong, with the immediate emphasis being on the religious beliefs of the family. For the record, I am not religious in the least, but having very recently worked on a large contract for Jehovah's Witnesses, the one thing I can say is that almost without exception I found them to be the friendliest, polite and level-headed people that I have had the pleasure of working with. Whilst their beliefs may not sit well with our own, or our medical and social care systems, that does not instantaneously make them bad people/parents?

                  The over-riding thing here is the wee boy - gravely ill, taken abroad by his family to get 'special/magic' treatment to make him better, then almost immediately ripped away from his family and kept away by people that speak in a funny accent. Poor wee thing must have been scared witless, and all because a handful of people in the UK decided that his own parents were putting him in danger, without any real evidence to support their theory.

                  Honestly, if it were Mrs C or Little C that was in hospital in a similar situation and I knew that there was something I could do to heal them, I would do it - even if it meant me knowingly falling foul of protocols; if that makes me a bad person, then I truly fear for this world.

                  All in all, how much money has been spent on this whole debacle, and how many people could get proton beam treatment in this country for that same amount of cash? We really are brilliant at cutting our nose off to spite our faces in this country.
                   
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                  • Kristen

                    Kristen Under gardener

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                    I definitely nicking that phrase C1 ... it's ace!
                     
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                    • Adendoll

                      Adendoll Super Gardener

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                      The hospital consultant/multidisciplinary team involved should hang their heads in shame. The communication and decision making here seems to have broken down to such a degree that the family felt they had been backed into a corner, when they were at their most vulnerable.
                      The outcome of this power struggle has meant the person at the centre of the protection alert has suffered the most.
                      I can only hope that lessons will be learnt. I cannot believe that anyone concerned with providing care would have wanted this situation to escalate to the degree that it did.
                      My thoughts are with the brave young lad, I wish him success with his future treatment.
                       
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                      • Jenny namaste

                        Jenny namaste Total Gardener

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                        It is so reassuring to read this thread and view the sound and compassionate judgement you have all made.
                        As you say, lets hope this incident will highlight the need to clarify the special circumstances that arise in cases such as these,
                        Jenny
                         
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                        • Phil A

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                          • Kristen

                            Kristen Under gardener

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                            "A CPS spokesman said: 'We consider there is insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction for any criminal offence'."

                            Why do they so often phrase it like that - makes them sound guilty in the CPS' eyes ... what's the matter with "We consider that there are no grounds for prosecution"
                             
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                            • Phil A

                              Phil A Guest

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                              Or, no offence has been committed. You can't kidnap your own kid. It's already yours.
                               
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