“Though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back… she would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward.” - Aslan, C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

I Was Too Sick to Meet. She Was Too Cowardly to Put It in Writing.


🖋️ SWANK Dispatch
Postpone or Put It in Writing: Bureaucracy Is Not Exempt from Medical Ethics

Filed: 29 February 2024

Labels: Disability Accommodation, Social Work Refusal, Legal Oversight, Health Disregard, SWANK Legal Record, Medical Documentation Ignored

🕊 WELCOME TO SWANK

An Archive of ✦ Elegance, ✦ Complaint, ✦ and Unapologetic Standards
Curated by a Mother Harassed by the State in Two Countries for Over a Decade.

The Bureaucratic Push Through Illness

On 29 February 2024, I issued a clear, lawyer-advised request to Samira Issa of RBKC Family Services. The content was direct. The tone—measured. The logic—unassailable.

  • I was unwell, under medical treatment, supported by my GP.

  • I requested:
    ❖ Completion of her section of the Mapping Document by 1 March
    ❖ Postponement of the planned meeting in light of my medical needs

The law permits accommodations.
My GP confirmed the need.
My solicitor advised it.

Yet: Samira had not complied.

So I included a final clause of lawful insistence:

❝ If you refuse to postpone, you must put that refusal in writing with your reasoning so I may refer it to the hospital and obtain further legal advice. ❞

This is how we hold systems to account.

Not with tears.
Not with pleading.
With deadlines.
With demands.
With law.

✦ Filing Details

📎 Date: 29 February 2024
📍 Recipient: Samira Issa, RBKC Family Services
🖋 Legal Advisor Noted: Yes
📄 Medical Letter Noted: Yes
🩺 Condition: Respiratory illness requiring hospital treatment and aftercare
🕰 Urgency: Mapping Document deadline, meeting rescheduling

✦ Why This Matters

Social workers often act as if medical need is a nuisance, not a legal barrier. When a parent is sick—especially a mother—they presume noncompliance, not incapacity.

But incapacity, especially when medically verified, triggers rights.
It activates legal protections.
It cannot be brushed aside.

So I didn’t ask for compassion.
I demanded procedure.
And procedure is where they always falter.

✦ SWANK Reminder

If they cannot postpone,
they must explain.

If they cannot accommodate,
they must confess.

And if they cannot provide written rationale,
they are already operating outside lawful bounds.

✒️ Polly Chromatic
Founder & Director, SWANK London Ltd
📍 Flat 22, 2 Periwinkle Gardens, London W2
📧 director@swanklondon.com
🌐 www.swanklondon.com

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