Simon Harris said he has been “crystal clear” on the need for a statutory, public inquiry and that a memo would be brought to Cabinet this week.

He spoke after a meeting during the week with the parents of Harvey Sherratt, a nine-year-old boy with scoliosis and spina bifida, who died in July after waiting years for spinal surgery.

Harvey’s parents, Stephen Morrison and Gillian Sherratt, have said that in the time he waited for surgery, the curve in his spine went from 75 degrees to 130 degrees.

By the time he was operated on last December, the curve had reached the point where it could not be fully corrected, and had caused his rib cage to twist around his lungs and heart, severely restricting his breathing.

Last weekend, The Sunday Times newspaper reported allegations that Harvey was

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