Mr Ashwin Reddy

Thank you for your kind review. It is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your heart-warming comment. It is always a great pleasure for taking care of the patient for a long time.

Thank you so much for your kind comment and I am sorry for not replying sooner. It is great to know that the parent was happy with my care.

Thank you for raising concerns regarding my approach to you when we met at my NHS clinic at the Royal London Hospital. I appreciate your honesty and the opportunity to understand your perspective. As you may remember, your baby had been seen by a neonatal doctor and they were very concerned. A senior member of my team saw you as an emergency in addition to the normal NHS clinic list. She was a clinical fellow who was a consultant in India and had come to the UK to learn from myself and colleagues at world renown hospitals. After meeting you, she came to me distressed as she stated that you did not want her to examine your baby and your baby may have had something dangerous in her eye. She was unsure what the problem was and asked for my advice. A parent refusing examination may have long term implications for the child which are both vision threatening and life threatening. As this is unusual, I may have been robust in my discussion with you. I came into the room and explained that possible causes of a ‘white reflex’ include cancer ( I lead a national service for this in London). I wanted to exclude this for your baby and this is not easy without an examination. It was important to do this as soon as possible as the implications for delay are considerable. I now realise I should have discussed your emotional state more rather than only concentrate on your baby’s welfare. Fortunately, your baby did not have cancer and we could diagnose the condition & send you urgently for treatment in a timely manner in the NHS. We have learnt that we must pay more attention to mothers who are distressed about their babies and refuse examinations. Having a baby with a problem can be very distressing. Your husband seemed to be more understanding. We also need to have a low threshold for providing emotional support. Thank you again for your feedback.