ABSTRACT
The possibility exists that the point at which staff detect problems might not coincide with parental awareness of trouble. Our respondents were asked about the time when they were first alerted to the possibility that things were not going well and that the child's life might be in question. Another family would not let themselves take in the truth until just hours before the baby died. Both points have been taken into account but, unless specified otherwise, it is the time when parents accepted the reality. The catalogue of suggested improvements outlined in this chapter provides clinicians with a salutary reminder that parents will probably always remember the way in which they were told, and their memories will be coloured by whether or not staff observed the 'rules' of good practice. Professionals vary in their capacity to tolerate situations where continuing treatment seems inappropriate, and this might conceivably have influenced communication practices for the parents in the present study.
