“The Role of Government Edicts in False Accusations of Child Abuse”.

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Suddenly I was summoned to the Department of Health. I took Lisa Blakemore Brown and my husband with me. We met with two of the same civil servants who had flanked Lord Hunt at his meeting with Earl Howe. They were fascinated by what we were saying and cancelled their next meeting to spend longer with us. I concentrated on the role of voluntary organisations whose propaganda leaflets were causing much confusion by citing as symptoms of supposed Child Abuse many things which could equally be symptoms of Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, ADD/ ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, CFS/ME and a whole host of other childhood illnesses or disabilities. I was especially worried about the NSPCC “Full Stop” campaign, the literature of which was a recipe for well meaning school teachers to get the wrong end of the stick and blame parents for undiagnosed neurophysiological illness.

The civil servants were effusive in their thanks and pressed us to contribute written comments on the FII guidelines. This was the first ever focused task for the embryonic organisation “Parents, Professionals and Politicians Protecting Children with Illness and/or Disability”. We submitted a thick lever arch file of compelling evidence from parents and professionals, together with conference speeches, academic theses etc. Some of this is still available on our popular website which had 250 visits this week. Other key professionals including Dr Paul Shattock OBE of Sunderland submitted their separate evidence.

In the 17 October debate Earl Howe and Lord Clement Jones were both magnificent. There were many other excellent speeches most notably from The Countess of Mar on behalf of children with CFS/ME. Lord Astor of Hever spoke eloquently about children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and ADD/ADHD from family experience and from his contact with the support organisation ADDISS. Lord Mitchell used the occasion to record the terrifying story of Sally Clark’s false imprisonment in Hansard, where it will remain forever as an indictment of a Government, a Judiciary and a Medical Profession who prefer spin to simple common sense and compassion.

When Lord Hunt replied for the Government we were all pleasantly surprised. He offered to meet Lady Mar and Lord Astor. He promised that speeches made in the debate and documents submitted would be taken into account when the draft guidelines were reviewed prior to publication.

We all went to bed that night with a great sense of achievement. We felt sure that if Lord Hunt kept his promise the Gospel of Saints Roy and David would not after all be issued as a Department of Health Document.

How wrong could we be? Whilst Earl Howe managed to secure a few minor and procedural amendments nothing substantial was changed between the draft guidelines and the guidelines as finally issued. Lord Hunt did not fulfil our expectations. His later resignation from a post he enjoyed at Health, over the principle of the Iraq war, suggests to me that he meant what he said when he said it. I have always wondered if Beverley Hughes or her superior Alan Milburn overruled him.

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© Jan Loxley Blount 05 11 04 London

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