The Quest Begins!

Due to Peter Fleming's refusal to investigate any medical reason for Hari's slow growth we went back to the GP and asked to be referred elsewhere.

Annette Bradley decided that the best place to start was with the paediatrician who held clinics at our local hospital, Tim Chambers.

So in June 1985 Hari was seen by Tim Chambers. He decided he would need to observe her as an inpatient for a few weeks and told me that he would arrange this.

After some time I had heard nothing so I telephoned his secretary to enquire about the arrangements for this. She informed me that it was not going to happen and that Tim Chambers was not going to see Hari again!

A somewhat ambiguous letter had been sent to our GP in which Tim Chambers said it was very unlikely that he would turn up anything new. Prior to sending this letter he had seen Hari's notes from Bristol Children's Hospital.

We went back to our GP and she apologised for not telling me that Tim Chambers was not going to see Hari again - she had been under the impression that he had told me this himself. She assured me that had she known he had not told me this then she would certainly have told me.

Interestingly enough a later enquiry resulted in Tim Chambers claiming that : 'his offer to monitor her condition in hospital was not taken up.' In fact the offer to monitor her as an inpatient never materialised - it was never arranged and we were never sent any arrangements for this offer, despite the fact that this is what he had told us would happen. It wasn't until I chased it up with his secretary that I learned that it was not going to happen at all.

So - was this what we were to expect from the NHS? Refusals to investigate and diagnose at every attempt to get Hari's health problems and needs recognised and treated?

It's certainly beginning to sound familiar!