To think that surely known coercion invalidates medical consent ?

[Coercion]

If all medical professionals are aware that a patient is being coerced/forced and this was in their medical notes then any consent given is invalidated ?

Im in a situation where it being told that’s not The case - that if I signed then it’s valid consent despite the fact they recorded on multiple occasions my disclosures of abuse and being forced, coerced and threatened. They even witnessed it and noted it.

Im told ‘ultimately you were an adult and consented’

This isn’t right is it ?

I think my biggest shock was how they enabled an abuser who wasn’t making any secret of it ? I know if I did that to one of my daughters I’d probably be arrested within 24 hours !

I wondered have you approached the NHS trust?

I don’t think the GMC were the right people; ultimately they are a regulatory body and looking at medical malpractice and very serious wrongdoing by doctors as individuals.

This sounds like a problem with the service as a whole and lack of knowledge.

In 2000 this would have been before the mental capacity act so they still cannot be judged by todays standards around capacity and consent for adults.

I imagine however unfairly that they regarded what happened between you and your mum as being ‘family dynamics’ or ‘relational difficulties’.

I don’t think they would have called the police or social services- I can’t see what they would have done either - but were you spoken to about going to a refuge or accessing any other support?

I unfortunately do see how they would have regarded you as an adult, who was reluctantly having the TOP in preference to being homeless and destroying their relationship with their own mother.

Now I think standards are more strict and there would be more of an intervention.

I am ultimately, very sorry that this happened.

I am very sorry this happened to you. Whilst 18 and technically an adult, 18 is still very young and I can see why your mum had so much control over you.

They were wrong, your mum was wrong, you should never have had to deal with that.

I expect they won't apologise because that is admitting liability and opening themselves upto further action. It absolutely sucks though.

I was just desperate and though that the police or social services would help I was very vocal and kept asking and begging for help clearly stating exactly what was happening to me .

They gave me no other options at all. It was one option only and 24/7 I had from my mother how if I had the baby it would be removed or I’d have to work and it would be in a nursery all day every day and I would they a good nursery that I’d have to use one where I’d be at the bus stop at 6 am as it would be far away and each day I’d have to worry was my baby looked after badly etc etc. I feel embarrassed to admit I didn’t know that actually I’d have got benefits etc I thought she was telling me the truth I was terrified but I kept saying I still couldn’t do it.
I had no money , no phone, no freedom and no choice . The drs just backed her up - she was insisting on a certain thing so it had to be done

And each time I’d said and she was there I wanted them to help me and each time I got sent back with her and she was furious with me

While 18 is only just a legal adult, you were an adult and unless otherwise had another vulnerability (learning disability, for example) social services would not have been appropriate. I wonder if they thought “she’s 18 and has a phone, why can’t she call the police?”. Just to add, I don’t think this. I know there are a myriad of reasons and can see the bigger picture but I have a social care background. It’s not acceptable and I hope it wouldn’t happen in 2023.

I am sorry you weren’t heard by the medical professionals and that it caused an additional trauma on top of what you were already going through.

I think you’re going to struggle to get an apology but I hope you can find some peace and a way to move on as best you can.

I think I wanted SS to protect the baby , not so much me if that makes sense.

She had taken my phone, I had no access to a phone or money. Most of the time I was too sick to go out anyway but when I did try I wasn’t allowed . I was taken out to appointments only and I was terrified. The situation just deteriorated so fast I went from having a job and freedom to losing it all.

I remember when it was done, getting back. She told me I was hers again.
She started making calls to let people know ‘it’s done’

I think my mind os just looking to place blame and I’m angry that she wasn’t stopped in her tracks by professionals I think that’s the real issue. I feel there should have been things in place to protect me and I few let down. It’s just been a horrible day going over it all again but that happens so much it’s like I just can’t process it as I can’t make any sense of why at each point it just carried on when there were so many opportunities for professionals to safeguard

Of course you’re angry, you were let down and - despite being an adult in the eyes of the law - you were still so very young. You were vulnerable and looking to others for help and they didn’t help.
I understand you’re angry at the world,anyone would be. I don’t think you’re ever going to get the answers you truly need and deserve but you do deserve to heal and find a way through.

I then had a panic attack asked for it to be removed And I was leaving. I was told no and taken to theatre. I refused the IV and they put the mask on my face instead

Thanks for explaining. This is the key part where you would have a case, and are owed an apology. Having said that, sadly, you won’t get an apology as it opens the gate for liability and so forth.

I really feel for you with the situation in totality. A lot of the rest is quite a grey area though in that you are really asking for an apology for lack of safeguarding in relation to a child, yet you were legally an adult. I have adult kids, so personally I understand 18yo is in no way an adult but legally this is the case and obligations are different accordingly.

If you specified you were being held captive, had no means of communication and wanted the police to attend, then in any situation the police should have been called. Asking for social services would have been a point of confusion as, unfortunately, the expectation would be that you just don’t go home with your mother and instead walk yourself out the door. If you had of refused then it may have set off a different chain of events. If your mother had of become violent, then security would be called to eject her. If you stated you had nowhere to go then a social worker would be called and signpost you to a women’s shelter, if one had capacity (if not, ???). Unfortunately, as a legal adult you were expected to get out of situations unless physically restrained, and ‘willingly’ coming and going with mum, not using the phone yourself to call police etc would have been confusing. I’m in no way blaming, and I understand coercion, but in a medical workplace sense, as we understand it now, it’s a relatively modern concept, it didn’t exist as such when I started or for many years after. So, getting people to look backwards and issue an apology, is not really going to work irrespective. Taking up the text I’ve highlighted will be your best bet if doing ‘something’ will assist with closure. Are you also having counselling now?

the history of informed consent might be a rabbit hole you might find helpful.
although a us publication it would be similar in most western countries.
Informed Consent: I. History of Informed Consent | Encyclopedia.com
i'm not sure if you have heard of google scholar but there are several medical articles on consent, they are dated so you can see views from 1970 and then 2003 etc.
you can narrow it down to adolescent informed consent. most scholarly papers are not free though.
but a historical perspective might help you work though this very upsetting experience.

OP I am very sorry for everything you have gone through and the lack of closure from the GMC response but I agree with PP regarding the lack of acknowledgement and understanding of coercive control 23 years ago. I worked in adult safeguarding and tbh if a case like this had crossed my desk back then I simply don't know if we'd have felt we had any resources to respond.
PALS at the relevant hospital may be a more fruitful avenue than GMC in terms of achieving an acknowledgement and healing dialogue.
Well meaning PP who have suggested that you consult a solicitor probably aren't aware that there is a time limit for adults who have litigation capacity to bring legal proceedings, which has long passed (although I know you are not seeking compensation, rather to be heard.)

Your feelings are a reasonable and rational response to horrific behaviour from your mother. I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm so sad 18yr old you wasn't protected, that the abuse was seen and ignored by multiple people.

I'm shocked that the response from GMC was so inhumane.

It was categorically wrong.

I can understand how it feels like it will never be over. What would you need to put it behind you and be able to make the most of life as it is now? Maybe that would be worth thinking about.

It's utterly appalling what was done to you. It sounds like you're stuck reliving the flashbacks - EMDR therapy can be really effective in helping to resolve trauma. It's expensive if private but it does work quite quickly. It's far better than counselling for trauma. I wouldn't be surprised if you had PTSD.

OP your mother is similar to what mine was. I don't think coercive control as it applies to children and young adults is really well understood. I think a lot of people just don't want to get their heads round the idea that a mother might not have their daughter's best interests at heart. I think - I hope - that if you had been walking in there with a boyfriend saying and doing the things your mother was, it would have been recognised as coercive control (even if in 2000 it would not have been called that).

I'm so sorry about what happened to you. The evil of people like your mother and mine is compounded by the complacency of people who see it and don't do anything about it.

I think i had assumed that social services would have helped the baby and the police me? But obviously I wasn’t sure of the law I was just asking for anything that may have been the service to help me and I was getting so desperate.

its documented bizarrely in my notes about the last bit. I’d called the registrar (?) back to remove the pessary, my mother was saying no and shaking her head they were saying no. I was taken so swiftly to theatre and the anaesthetic dr was unpleasant when I refused the IV.

In my notes it says I was asking for the pessary to be removed (correct) but then contradicts that saying ‘the patient was too distressed +++ for me to speak to her properly’ so recording exactly what I asked for but then almost backtracking. I was upset but I did make it clear (as it was correctly recorded)

Yes I’m having counselling. Part of the process was getting these notes but I almost wish I hadn’t now

I really don’t know I just feel that each time I’m working through things I’m hitting this intense of anger now made worse by having my notes . Just feeling let down by all the people you think will protect you and I don’t know how to deal with that. Neither party will say sorry or admit any responsibility both just say ‘well you signed the consent form’

I have to be careful with counselling too as I do get to a certain point speaking about it and I get chest pains and then start having nightmares so I always hold back which means I’m never fully dealing with it as I’m scared I’ll have a heart attack .

This thread is helpful though to just have people tell me it was wrong otherwise I feel almost like it’s gaslighting from the gmc and it makes me so frustrated as to me it’s so obviously wrong

There comes a point though, when you have to move on.

This awful thing happened, but you were an adult. You could have picked up the phone in hospital yourself and called the police. You could have called women’s aid or even your council and presented as homeless. You were an adult. You gave consent, you went to the appointments.

It is time to let it go and move forward. You’re not going to be able to undo it. You won’t be the person you were before. But you can be the person you are now and live the rest of your life fully, and have whatever experiences you want to have and children you want to have. It’s time.

I was threatened with awful things if I didn’t attend the appointments. I had been emotionally abused for years prior and so wasn’t as worldly wise as an average 18 year old. I didnt know about benefits or social
housing for a start, when id got a job that had been because she had insisted and I had to pay a lot of ‘rent’ to her so it was financially abusive too. She took the phone I got myself too. I wasn’t able to access help but when I asked in hospital they didn’t offer me use of their phone ? It was a dreadful situation .

I think my mother regretted getting me to get a job as it allowed me to meet people and have freedom and me being pregnant was threatening her extra income

Have you ever had EMDR? It’s really helpful for trauma.
I’m so sorry that you are going through this.

Wow, that's awful. I'm so sorry you had to go through a forced termination when you were so vulnerable.

No, I’ll look into it as I need to do something. I think it is ptsd

i remember your original thread OP and I really want you to focus on the fact that we hear you and that what was done to you was wrong and has caused lasting hurt. I know you are struggling with the counselling but all i can say is keep going....the anger you are feeling NEEDS to be released to let you move on and the fact that your body is giving you chest pain and nightmares is a sign that there is so much held within you just below the surface. I appreciate how scary those feelings can be. What I would say is that sometimes verbal counselling is not enough ...hands-on therapy can be more effective in giving you the support & safety net you need to let it go. I went through years of on-off therapy but could never let stuff go until I found a hands-on cranio-sacral therapist...it was hard learning to trust that she was there for me but its done me the world of good.

Thank you I really really appreciate the support here