The Meeting Begins.

The meeting took place on June 19th 2008 at Bristol Children's Hospital.

The first instance of deceit was apparent as soon as we arrived. Those expected to be present, according to the information we had been given, were Michele Narey, Geraldine Johnston, Liz Crowne and Ann Miller. But there she was - Judith Armstrong, Modern Matron, bustling around and putting the waste paper bin in its place - as is the remit of the Modern Matron!

Now I didn't want to cause a fuss but we had not, so far, had any reason to be impressed with Judith Armstrong and I was concerned that her presence would be counter-productive. So I quietly told Michele Narey that I didn't want Judith Armstrong there are Judith Armstrong was quietly told that she 'wouldn't be needed'.

There was a woman in the room who we did not know and I initially assumed that she was Ann Miller, the senior nurse from the Children's Hospital. However, Ann Millar was not there and this woman was introduced as Anne Berry, lead for vulnerable adults in the adult hospital.

We had heard of Anne Berry. She had recently requested to meet with us but as this meeting was pending we had suggested, quite reasonably, that she wait until after this meeting in order to avoid confusing matters.

I pointed out that she was not supposed to be there but felt pressured into agreeing to her remaining as an observer. It soon transpired that for an observer she had an awful lot to say for herself!