| You can help FAAS to fight for justice in Scotland by making a donation or by using the amazon adds on this site to get all your reading and viewing requirements. |
|
|
 |
|
Sirs, I do not recall anyone claiming that the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland has any links with the British False Memory Society (Letters 9/03/06) so I am shocked that for some reason Dr Freeman and his colleagues feel the need to specifically disassociate themselves from the valuable work of this charity. What are they afraid of? It is true that the Society has liaised with the Royal College and has been informed of their joint concerns about the document, Can of Worms. Is Dr Freeman insinuating that some members of the Royal College’s original Working Party drew upon anything other than their evidence-based expertise to report on the implications for clinical practice in reported recovered memories of child sexual abuse? One of the original six members of the working party is a member of the autonomous Scientific and Professional Advisory Board to the BFMS. This does not amount to any bias. It makes perfect sense for anyone researching a subject which has been the sole purpose of an organisation since its inception, nearly thirteen years ago, to approach that body for information. If Dr Freeman wanted to ensure a most thorough investigation into the subject matter today, which he tends to dismiss as ‘not a very important area’ he would do well to contact the Society to obtain a true picture of the situation. Families are being torn apart and individuals having their lives ruined on the basis of false allegations of childhood sexual abuse which all too often emanate from within the psychiatric services of the NHS. I implore Dr Freeman, as chair of the new working party to revise the College’s 1997 guidance, to ensure that the BFMS is contacted. Not to do so can only be as a result of a determination to dismiss the problem as unimportant. Please be prepared to tell that to all the broken families. In the same way, to deny an already admitted serious problem with the Scottish Executive’s new initiative, Can of Worms, is a failure of responsibility to anyone who may be harmed as a consequence of woefully poor practice. Must I remind him of a doctor’s oath, first do no harm? Madeline Greenhalgh,
|
 |
