🖋️ 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