The Curious Incident Of The Referral Refusal.

So there we were with yet another example of Hari not getting the standard of health care she needed. There seemed to be a blinkered approach that denied Hari appropriate care at every opportunity - based on discrimination, budgets or a mixture of both.

This even happened when it wouldn't cost the NHS a penny!

One event that had been both surprising and shocking had occurred in relation to an opportunity that couldn't be offered by the NHS.

At that time MRI scanners were relatively new and the general attitude was that the NHS would not be able to afford to install or run them.

Hari had the opportunity to have a brain scan, in an MRI scanner, at a clinic that was not part of the NHS. The scan would not have cost the NHS any money but due to legal technicalities the clinic required a written referral from an existing NHS consultant.

The scan would obviously be beneficial to Hari as it would give the clearest picture possible of her brain and the damage involved. The scan images would have been made available to any doctors involved in her care, enabling them to have clearer information about Hari and to maximise the efficiency of any treatment or care they could offer in relation to the brain damage.

The clinic wrote to Peter Fleming asking him to make the written referral.

He refused!

This is something we have never understood. This facility was available to Hari and the NHS would not have to carry the cost. But for some obscure reason Hari was prevented from taking up this opportunity by Peter Fleming.

This refusal to make the written referral is completely inexplicable - unless they knew something that might show up on the scan - which they didn't want us to know about!