Dr Nigel Speight in the ME Global Chronicle : Children with ME taken into custody - part one

[Countrygirl]

https://meglobalchronicle.wordpress.com/2023/11/24/children-with-me-taken-into-custody-part-1/

Children with ME taken into custody – part 1​

by Dr Nigel Speight

GEPUBLICEERD OP 24 november 2023

During the Swedish ME Association (RME) 2023 conference at the Stockholm County Council Dr. Nigel Speight discoursed on his experiences with children taken into custody in Great Britain and other European countries. In this issue of the ME Global Chronicle we include the first two cases he reported about. But first his introduction.

(You can guess the name of 'the lady paediatrician')

Introduction

I’m a pediatrician from the northeast of England. I’ve been working in ME for the last 30 years.
It’s bad enough having a child with ME without having the professionals who should be looking after you, actually persecuting the family. And I’ve got a rather bitter experience of quite a lot of cases like this. I believe other countries have the same problems with young people with ME and their families still being persecuted by caring professionals. It’s an international problem and it’s certainly a European problem.

I have seen over 200 families in the UK being subjected to Child Protection proceedings. Although the title of my talk is about children actually having been removed, there are a large number of children being pressured and subjected to Hospital admissions who aren’t permanently removed. And I’ve got clear evidence that there are similar cases in Sweden, Holland, Norway, Germany, France and Denmark and you will have read about some cases in the USA.
it’s possible that this problem is becoming more frequent. At the end I’ll mention a couple of developments in Britain which are leading to possibly it becoming more frequent and there’s a whole series of long covid cases in children who are beginning to be at risk of being treated similarly.

I’m going to go through some cases in detail and then try to understand where the failings were in the professionals. As you’ll see I concentrate on the responsibility of the medical profession, but social services and education also contribute to this problem............................

 

[lenora]

Hello @Countrygirl....I would like to read more about this subject.

I can't imagine having your child taken away, especially if they're ill but I do know it happens. What condition are these children in when they return home? Is there anything on that? And where are they put...with a foster family, hospital....where? You do so much. Thank-you. Yours, Lenora

 

[Treeman]

When I was a child and severely ill and unable to leave my bed, an officer from the educational authority visited me and my parents and I was told that if I didn't attend school my parents would be prosecuted. The NHS and informed the authorities there was nothing wrong with me.

I was forced to go to school but I would walk out after getting my registration and go and lay down in the park next door. Eventually many years later I was diagnosed with ME/CFS.

I think there are many sides to this story.

 

[lenora]

Hello @Treeman.....Yes, there are many sides to the story, too many.

@Countrygirl continues this story with additional comments if you move down the "What's New" heading. It's all so complicated. Yours, Lenora