to all GN's living in France 4 year old boy missing

Meanwhile a very ill five year old boy has been very much alone. The stress and anxiety of being separated from his parents has not been in his best interests at all. What must "the authorities" have been thinking to have his parents jailed.

There was obviously a huge break down in communication between the doctors and the parents. However it took a while before the CPS, the Police decided they did not need to extradite the parents after all and I'm not sure this would have happened if not for the family's use of social media bringing it to the wider public.

They are responding to the media attitude that the reason for all the hooha was that the hospital were preventing them from getting treatment else where, so they are saying that they do NOT object. and they DID offer to help with a second opinion.

I have no problem with their statement. In fact it is probably the nearest we are going to get to a statement from them laying out in detail the conversations they have had with the parents. We have had the conversation as the parents saw it, but not as the hospital did. Patient confidentiality bans that.

Mishap I didn't word it very well! What I meant was - what legal right does the hospital have to object? If they did object, would that mean the parents would not be able to seek other treatment? Supposing he parents disagreed with a second opinion and still wanted to pursue the proton treatment. I don't know what the legal position would be if the hospital objected.

Mishap, you have laid it all out so logically and succinctly that there's nothing more to say on the subject. Brilliant.

Yes well said Mishap.

Good post Mishap. I agree absolutely.

MiniM - why are you so surprised that the hospital have said they would have no objection to them seeking other treatment? - they had already said that they would facilitate a second opinion to help the family make a reasoned decision. That is the right action in these circumstances, and that is what they did.

As I have said before, all the parties (apart from the media) in this situation have acted in good faith; and we should ask ourselves how we might have acted.

You are a hospital doctor and a family are finding it hard to accept the realities of a child's prognosis - what do you do? Do you send them off to have an inappropriate treatment that you do not think will succeed and raise false hopes? - or do you, as the hospital did, offer to facilitate a second opinion so that the family can get another perspective. If you think the family are taking steps that will be to the detriment of the child, do you ignore that and shrug your shoulders and look away? - or do you raise the issue of how this child's interests might best be protected? If you find that the child has left the hospital against advice and you believe him to be in danger, do you do nothing, or do you seek the help of the police to find the child and make sure his needs are being met?

You are a policeperson and you receive information from a hospital that a child has left hospital against medical advice and needs to be traced for his own safety - do you log the call and do nothing, or do you take steps to find that child?

You are a news reporter and get to hear of this - do you recognise that it is a situation that needs to be dealt with some subtlety and that there are sensitive and private issues that you need to handle with maturity and restraint? Or do you blast the news channels with the story and whip up a frenzy of hatred against the doctors and the police so that you can get your name on a strapline?

For once - and I never thought I would say this - I agree with David Cameron - a rapid outbreak of common sense is what is needed.

And everyone needs to avoid being seduced by the media frenzy into finding someone to blame.

Yes, Aka, I do.

According to BBC News, Southampton hospital has just said that they "would have no objection to Ashya seeking alternative treatment" !!! Words fail me.

There are some apologies to be made. It should never have gone so far. Incredible.

They'll probably start a Trust with it, like the Anthony Nolan Trust.

If the Czech hospital decides it's not appropriate on receipt of the medical records etc, I wonder what will happen to all the money raised?

Yes quite Galen and that is the crux of the matter. Raising money for the treatment etc is making a lot of assumptions. If he is as ill as he appears to be then no amount of radiotherapy may keep him alive, let alone restore him to health.
I'm sure everyone was trying to do their best for the little boy in this awkward situation but given the constraints of more than one legal system, child protection system and health system it is a miracle it has been sorted out as quickly as it seems to have been. I hope the press will calm down now and give the family and the hospital some peace and privacy.

Let's hope they will be reunited with their little boy soon.

Whatever the rights or wrongs of anyone's actions, he needs his parents with him.

Fantastic! We do need some kind of enquiry if only because of the 'no smoke without fire/they must have done something to be put in prison' attitudes which some people have.

POGS to say someone is 'very media savvy' these days is almost the same as saying they are artful, manipulative and lying, although I am sure that is not what you meant.

I understand the family were not aware of the hoo-ha at first. Also, when the police raided the Grandmother's house at the beginning of it all, she in all likelihood told them about the provision made by the family to ensure the child continued to receive food.

Good news indeed.

You think Jane? Like the little girl with cerebral palsy whose parents had to raise £8,000 for her operation, and is now starting to walk.

That is good news.

Very good news. I'm assuming the parents did not in fact do anything wrong if they are to be released.

Agreed Galen. I meant that if this child had been suitable for proton beam therapy, presumably the NHS would have funded it.

Good.

Breaking news - warrants etc. being withdrawn here and in Spain and parents should be released soon.

www.breakingnews.com/topic/search-for-terminally-ill-uk-boy-ashya-king/

I do hope the parents are released soon but I do have to agree with so many points Mishap has raised.

The initial hours of the story breaking were focusing on the feeding tube and the battery life. The police and hospital had to act on the fact Ashya had been removed from the hospital without the hospital being informed. There would have been an outcry from the public if nothing had been done to maximize the need to try and locate them given the concern for his welfare having had an operation for a brain tumour only a few days previously. The Assistant Chief Constable, Chris Shead, gave updates every few hours on both Sky and BBC 24 hour news. He always made the point the concern was for the welfare of Ashya and the need to find the family because of the information given to the police by Ashyas doctors. He had no room to manoeuvre, he did his job and has repeatedly pointed out he would rather be admonished now knowing Ashya is safe than be admonished for doing nothing and the outcome being very different.

The Portsmouth Council also had to act on the information given to them by Ashyas doctors, what could they do otherwise, ignore it and hope it all goes away. Until we know exactly what Ashyas medical reports are it is impossible to say the hospital and the medical team are all arrogant, uncaring people as some have eluded to. They had to report the fact to the police, again only doing their job.

I just wish the family, who are very social media savvy, had put out the fact they had purchased food from the internet and had a car charger that meant the feeding tube battery would not run out. The only time I have seen this question put forward was at an interview with the brother outside Ashyas hospital in Spain who said he couldn't do it because his mobile phone battery wasn't charged.

There are no winners in this sadly.