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E-Mail to Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health .....
This is a screenshot of the e-mail the full transcript is reproduced below :
Sent : 08.09.2020 (no response yet - 10.09.2020)
Sir
With the greatest respect I should like to bring to your attention the following:
Although disabled since the age of 14 (I am now 68) I overcame the stigma, visible deformity and general discomforts associated with this manner of 'issue' (as it is referred to these days) to live a curtailed but full life, attended school and further education and made a careful choice of career to enable me to function at my very best and to give of my best. With the exception of some unforeseen circumstances resulting from my disability and forcing me to to be hospitalised, I had at the end of my working life (prolonged by 2 years and 1 month because of my DOB) earned enough full stamps to make me eligible for a full pension. During part of that time I claimed DLA and now PIP to assist with my mobility. I survived the mockery of others about my physical disability, I survived the prejudices shown by prospective employers, my last being the worst, whenever I went for promotion I was always patted on the head and told I had come a 'creditable 2nd' - that is, until I became a creditable 2nd in a two-vacancy promotion which I accepted. I survived the discrimination of being disabled, of non-British descent and gender. So what am I complaining about?
Recently, I have been diagnosed with bowel cancer - it was missed for a long time as we experienced a hiatus in the house which may have masked symptoms and my eventual symptoms of 'anaemia', thanks to the knowledge of my 'district nurse' with whom I have built up an excellent rapport over many years of 'house boundness' since being forcibly and medically retired. She came to take blood for my annual thyroid check and on her own initiative asked the courier at the surgery to wait as she suspected something was wrong. At 10pm that same evening I received a call from a doctor advising me that my haemoglobin count was practically non-existent and they required me to be admitted at once. I asked for a delay until the morning as I was already dressed for bed and in a safe place I was familiar with.
My first night in the hospital was spent in a 'waiting area' with no facilities with the exception of a toilet and a round of sandwiches sometime late afternoon. I was left on a trolley and had no means to undress for the night - ok, I'm resilient I had a book and a phone and 'got on with it.' Even when I was moved onto a ward and mentioned that I needed my dressing to be changed (I have had an oozing open sinus since 1985) not one person took the blindest bit of notice, did not make a note of it anywhere or if they did it was ignored - luckily I had brought my own dressings in with me and changed them myself as soon as I realised there was to be no help there as it was not part of what I was being investigated for!
I have recently discovered that I was in QMC at the time (unknown) that the first Covid-19 patient was identified. That was mid-February of this year. Now, in September 2020, having undergone 3 x CT scans (they keep running out of their 3-month validity term), 1 x MRI, 1 x Endoscopy, 2 x Colonoscopies (the first attempt did not get sufficient and appropriate data/biopsy material apparently), received 3 pints of blood (and having a similarly commensurate amount taken for testing - dare I say, 'think Hancock's Half-Hour and 'very nearly an armful?'), 2 lots of iron infusions and the removal of approx. 1L of accumulated fluid around the right lung I am once again at a standstill. I have not yet received what will be the 4th date for the, I am assured 'life saving surgery', I am required to have to remove the diseased section of the bowel and some inappropriate, but possibly benign, growths on my ovaries, which in turn may require me to have a hysterectomy. They have been promising me both procedures for some time and I am on my third 'postponement' - in the meantime I read that another bowel cancer patient in Nottingham at that same QMC has now been advised his condition has moved to Stage 4 and he is terminal. Is that to be my fate as well?
Well, if we have a Secretary of State for Health and his name is Hancock what do you expect? - Image sourced from: The Daily Telegraph
And now to my final observation - I have already mentioned my non-British heritage although I am a fully-fledged, loyal British subject and hold Her Majesty in great esteem. I have and always have had a full British Passport and am proud of my bi-cultural life and heritage, my ability to be fluent in both English and my parents language and even manage the odd bit of French when pushed. I fit in in all three worlds and accept their customs and beliefs. I am a Roman Catholic and truly appreciate the freedom of faith available in this country. My parents generation were always polite and courteous and never assumed an address, they always went through the formalities including actually calling me Mrs. (Surname) on my marriages (there have been two) even though they had known me since birth and used my Christian name with appropriate pre-fixes as I grew up ... I have become accustomed to these niceties and find the disrespectful and boorish manner of NHS staff unacceptable. What do I mean?
- I deliberately used the term 'Christian' name because I have been known since birth by the preferred name my parents used for me which is Anna (as you may see from my e-mail address.)
- Changing 'Christian' to 'First' in general parlance is of no use to me as my first name begins with a letter J (oh the number of times I've been asked is it Jane, June, Jackie, Jenny, Julie, Josephine, Joanna, Jessica, Juliette etc. ad infinitum yawn!) and I have to answer, none of those my first name, not my preferred name is Jadwiga - the look on their faces is blank because Jadwiga is not pronounced Jadwigger but Yad (as in Yad Vashem), vi (as in the letter v) and ga (as in Lady Gaga who at least is famous en ought to make people pronounce her name correctly ga!ga! not gagger as in Jagger). I have of course recently gained kudos as Harry Potter's Owl is called 'Hedwig' which is the English/Germanic pronunciation of my first name, (the French édwige, is I think the prettiest pronunciation)., but none of this assists with the correct pronunciation of that name which the NHS insist on using. Why, because the computers do not have the capacity to sustain two names before a surname, nor do the staff take any notice of being asked politely to use a preferred name especially as any documentation I sign is as J Anna not Jadwiga A, nor will they ask how my name, if they must use Jadwiga, should be pronounced (such a little bit of politeness) or even if they should address someone by their title. I have in the past when asked how to pronounce my first name simply say 'Mrs.' I have been met with much abuse amongst some of the NHS staff who have said to my face 'Well I can't be bothered to learn how to say this name and I'm far to busy to make a note on the file' in the time they take to say that to me, and it is always in an abusive manner, they could have just marked 4 little letters on the front file - easy, peasy it's a pallindrome ANNA whichever way you look at it!
And back to Covid-19 - I have been self-isolating since 8th March after I had my first colonoscopy and endoscopy - since that time I have been forced into attending QMC and City Hospitals on numerous occasions, each one fraught with the possibility of Covid and as my past history is testament, I know QMC to be filthy, I spent many months in the orthopaedic wards and was on one occasion sent home with pseudomonas (The bacteria can be spread in hospitals via the hands of healthcare workers, or by hospital equipment that is not properly cleaned. Pseudomonas infections are considered opportunistic infections. This means that the organism only causes disease when a person's immune system is already impaired.) Before my second 'delay' I was informed that my surgery would take place in the private hospital being used in addition to the two majors, since then they have shattered any resilience I may have built up by announcing I am to be incarcerated at QMC in a so-called 'green' ward.
I appeal to you as the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to look into these matters on my behalf as I do not believe I should put up with any more discrimination, rudeness and carelessness when I am facing, what they have quite categorically told me, may be the last few days/weeks of my life; even if I survive the surgery (and who wants a hysterectomy at the age of 68 let alone some sort of stent on the opposite side of my body which is already dictated by a withered leg and all it entails and on which I rely as my left side is already hopelessly compromised) there is the danger of catching COVID during recovery, or just not coming out of recovery. Will I be forced to sign a DNR to make things easier?
Yours faithfully
J Anna Ludlow (Mrs) DipAD, BA(Hons), FInstAm and a few others ...
Citizen of Hucknall, constituency Ashfield, MP - Chief Whip
Chief Whip 'failed to act in Tory MP rape case'
Mark Spencer under fire for not suspending ex-minister arrested on suspicion of rape
By Harry Yorke, Political Correspondent and Gordon Rayner, Political Editor 2nd August 2020 • 9:35pm
The Government's Chief Whip was on Sunday night accused of failing to act for four months on complaints against a former minister who was arrested for a suspected rape at the weekend. Mark Spencer was under mounting pressure to explain why he failed to launch an investigation into the alleged behaviour of the senior Conservative, who has not been suspended by the party despite the seriousness of the allegations. The MP, who has not been publicly named, was arrested on Saturday after a woman in her 20s made a complaint of rape and sexual assault, before being bailed later that evening until a date in mid-August. The Telegraph has established that the woman - who was working as a parliamentary aide - made a complaint to Mr Spencer on April 1, but says she became frustrated when nothing was done and sought a second meeting with him, which she says he declined. She also alleges that she told Mr Spencer - the man in charge of party discipline - that the MP issued threats against her if she spoke to anybody, but that Mr Spencer simply reassured her that the MP in question would not carry out his threat.
Mr Spencer has insisted that anyone who makes allegations of harassment or abuse is "strongly encouraged" by him to report the matter to "the appropriate authorities" and disputes elements of the woman's version of her contact with him. Mr Spencer denies that the woman made any allegations of a sexual nature in his conversation with her. However, his lack of action has angered some female MPs in his own party, who have questioned why he failed to investigate, why he did not advise the woman to contact the police, and why he has not removed the whip from the MP. A former minister told The Telegraph: "I'm surprised the whip hasn't been removed considering what happened to Charlie Elphicke. I think the chief has a lot to answer for." A second former Tory minister said: "It's just hugely disappointing to yet again find these allegations. It's a young woman who should not have ever been put in that position and should have clear mechanisms by which to address the allegations."
On Sunday night Claire Waxman, the Victims' Commissioner for London, pointed to Mr Johnson's comments last year in which he claimed that "women must have the confidence that crimes, domestic violence and sexual abuse, are treated seriously", writing on Twitter: "However, not suspending an MP accused of rape while investigations are ongoing conveys a different message." The news has sent shockwaves through the Conservative Party and comes just days after Charlie Elphicke, a former Tory whip, was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women in 2007 and 2016. Last month the Conservative Party was criticised for not withdrawing the whip from Rob Roberts, MP for Delyn, after he sent inappropriate messages to two junior members of staff. Mr Roberts has apologised and the party is investigating. In contrast Julian Lewis had the whip withdrawn for standing for the post of chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, disobeying party orders to vote for former minister Chris Grayling. Allegations concerning the MP arrested on Saturday first began to reach the ears of fellow MPs in February, the month after the most recent of the alleged sexual assaults.
Asked if Boris Johnson retained confidence in Mr Spencer, Downing Street said the Prime Minister had "confidence in his entire Cabinet" but refused to answer questions about when Mr Johnson first became aware of the allegations. On Sunday, Scotland Yard confirmed that it had received allegations relating to four separate incidents involving allegations of sexual offences and assault, alleged to have occurred at addresses in Westminster, Lambeth and Hackney between July 2019 and January 2020. The alleged victim has claimed one of the alleged assaults left her needing hospital treatment. The Telegraph has established that Mr Spencer spoke to the complainant on April 1, when the woman in question says she told him about "sexual abuse" she said she had suffered at the hands of the MP. She also claims to have told Mr Spencer the MP had made further threats against her if she spoke to anyone about it. In an anonymous newspaper interview last month, the woman claimed Mr Spencer "didn't seem interested in the details of the allegations but spent most of the time saying I shouldn't worry about the threats". She added that his response appeared to be: "Well don't worry, because the MP won't actually carry out those threats." She said: "He never suggested I should go to the police. In fact I asked him when he would withdraw the whip, he first said when he had a police report, then changed it to a charge, then he said ultimately he'd need a conviction. "I felt like he did not take me seriously or recognise the severity of what had happened."
Allies of Mr Spencer say the woman did not want the MP concerned to be made aware of her complaint as she was concerned about not being given a reference by the person that she was working for at the time. The woman says Mr Spencer did not advise her to contact the police, which he does not dispute. Mr Spencer has told friends the woman said she intended to take the matter to Parliament's Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme. Multiple sources have told The Telegraph that the woman attempted to speak to Mr Spencer a second time, but was instead contacted by his special adviser, who directed her towards the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme. Increasingly frustrated with his approach, she contacted a backbench Conservative MP in late June, who raised her complaint with Jacob Rees-Mogg, the House of Commons leader, in mid-July. Mr Rees-Mogg is understood to have advised that the woman report the allegations to the police. He also notified the Whips' Office of the complaint. Mr Rees-Mogg had also been told about the allegations by a friend of the woman during a meeting to discuss Parliamentary grievance procedures on June 22, though he was not at that point told the identity of the MP. Again, he said the matter should be referred to the police.
A Government source said on Sunday night that Mr Rees-Mogg found the allegations "extremely distressing" and later contacted the Government Whips' Office to notify them of the complaint. He was unavailable for comment. When an interview with the woman appeared in The Times on July 27, friends of Mr Spencer told the newspaper she had not mentioned the allegations of sexual assault. She reacted angrily to the suggestion, telling friends at the time that she had reported allegations of "sexual abuse" to him. Four days later, she reported the allegations to the police. She is also said to be angered at the decision not to suspend the whip from the MP, after a party spokesman stated yesterday that the matter would be reviewed once the police investigation has concluded. The concerns raised by senior female Tory MPs about the Chief Whip's decision not to suspend the whip from their colleague were echoed by Jess Phillips, Labour's shadow safeguarding minister, who said the refusal not to take action pending the police investigation was "shocking".
Labour's Jess Phillips has been outspoken on the matter Credit: Barcroft Media Labour's Ms Phillips added: "This is an appalling decision that sends a message that the Conservative Party do not take either their safeguarding responsibility or people who come forward seriously. I hope that decent Tories privately contact Number 10 and their whips and express their disgust."
Separately, the chair of the MP's association told the Daily Mail*: "[The MP] has made us aware of allegations made against him. He denies these totally. And this association gives him our one hundred per cent support." A spokesman for the Conservative Party said: "These are serious allegations and it is right that they are investigated fully. The Whip has not been suspended. This decision will be reviewed once the police investigation has been concluded." Party sources said the decision not to suspend the whip was taken for fear that the MP could then be identified before the allegations had been assessed by the police. Approached for comment last night, a spokesman for Mr Spencer said: "The Chief Whip takes all allegations of harassment and abuse extremely seriously and has strongly encouraged anybody who has approached him to contact the appropriate authorities, including Parliament's Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, which can formally carry out independent and confidential investigations.
"As this matter is now in the hands of the police it would be inappropriate to comment further." Source : Daily Telegraph
*In the Daily Mail article the word 'adamant' is used - yes, that about sums him up from my experience of him, Marl Spencer is always adamant that he is wrong and the rest of us are just a nasty smell under his nostrils, about on a par with Andrew Windsor, Prince, Duke of York and all round bad egg - they and their smells suit each other!
Page refreshed : 10th September 2020