How many times must we tell the ‘health service’ NOT to sign death warrants for people with disabilities?
Ventilator: after all the fuss last year over people with disabilities being issued blanket “Do Not Revive” orders, Mencap has revealed that it is STILL happening.
Who is responsible for this abomination against healthcare?
It has been revealed that, despite being told not to force “Do Not Revive” orders in people with disabilities who contract Covid-19, people with learning disabilities are still having the orders forced on them – whether they agree with them or not.
Pressure over this from the British Medical Association, Care Quality Commission and others, warning that blanket approaches to care are wrong, forced NHS England to tell hospitals, GPs and managers not to issue such letters… in April 2020 – nearly a year ago!
The following month, Death Health Secretary Matt Hancock was threatened with court action unless he legislated to safeguard vulnerable people. At the very least, it is an offence against their human rights.
But now we find that people with learning disabilities are still having “Do Not Revive” orders thrust upon them:
People with learning disabilities have been given do not resuscitate orders during the second wave of the pandemic, in spite of widespread condemnation of the practice last year and an urgent investigation by the care watchdog.
Mencap said it had received reports in January from people with learning disabilities that they had been told they would not be resuscitated if they were taken ill with Covid-19.
The Care Quality Commission said in December that inappropriate “Do Not Revive” notices had caused potentially avoidable deaths last year.
Mencap said they seemed to have been issued for people simply because they had a learning disability.
Do I have to put two and two together for you?
The fact that the government refused to put people with learning disabilities on the priority list for vaccinations makes this behaviour even worse.
So we find from NHS figures that in the five weeks since the third lockdown began, Covid-19 accounted for 65 per cent of deaths of people with learning disabilities. Although the statistics are drawn from different measures, it’s useful to compare this with the rate for the general population: just 39 per cent.
Younger people with learning disabilities aged 18 to 34 are 30 times more likely to die of Covid than others the same age, according to Public Health England.
Considering the inbuilt, systemic bias against them, it seems clear that we should not be surprised – just horrified at this apparent targeting of people with disabilities by the health service (which is supposed to protect people) and the Tory government.
For the sake of balance, I should report that the Department for Health and Social Care has said that it has taken action to prevent “Do Not Revive” notices and has asked the Care Quality Commission to review all such notices issued during the pandemic.
I look forward to its report.
I wonder if anybody will be found to have issued these notices wrongly.
I wonder if anybody will be found to have died as a result.
And if so, I wonder if we’ll learn the reasons these notices were issued. How damning will they be?
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Are you aware the first sliding advert always obliterates the start of the next paragraph in your article?
No – and I haven’t experienced it myself. What device are you using to read, and has anybody else suffered the same problem?
Aktion t4 rolling along with out much of a ado
Yet these devil’s in power now whot they do they
Their minister’s whot they want done they culled
The stock through benefits denial forcing theminto early deaths but now they have a virus
Culling the stock and the devil’s haven’t recinded
Their no revive better I not go you see I wouldn’t
Have a chance has it is a dead cert they wouldn’t
Try with me I now iv asked my MP who said because of it they will not operate on me so I’m
Buggered either way
Mike I think they have put a DNR on me as well? I was rushed into hospital with an SVT & AFib heart rate at one point 300 given drugs intravenous etc nothing worked & I started being sick so they rushed me to a small room they had to do a cardioversion under anaesthetic (electric shock to the heart). They told my husband that if I caught Covid or went into arrest they wouldn’t perform ventilation intubation or CPR, also says this on my discharge notes as well.
I didn’t think they can do that without either my or my husbands consent?
I have several conditions stage 2 COPD, early onset vascular dementia due to having a stroke, aortic stenosis (heart valve) fibromyalgia, arthritis and hypothyroidism having had my thyroid removed, I will be 70 next month.
I have been worried sick & so has my husband.
Take action over this. Demand answers.
For once this is not a problem particular to this Tory Government, or even previous Tory Governments. We become more aware of it when deep health cuts are made of course, and that IS a Tory thing.
No, the problem is with the medical profession. Doctors, particularly at Consultant level regard themselves as God-like. The have always made life and death decisions on a daily basis and are prepared to say who’s life has value and who’s does not. This is deeply pervasive and they will NOT change, it is their culture and always has been. We know that doctors used to ‘ease patient’s suffering’ at their life’s end for example, not like Harold Shipman but I think they thought they were more like Jack Kvorkian. That type of behaviour is rarer now that drugs have to be accounted for much more tightly but still doctors think the know better than the patient, the patient’s family and certainly politicians on who should be cared for properly and who should be allowed to ‘slip away’
The entire profession STILL covers up its errors, loses files to prevent the truth coming out and simply moves incompetent doctors around the system. Those who speak out are STILL victimised. This will keep happening until doctors are prosecuted.
For once this isn’t (specifically) the Tories but something MUST be done instead of the handwringing and platitudes..
Both my Dad and partner had them put on them with no consultation with family members. We did not find out until after they had died
Accountability for this state sanctioned mass murder of women and men with disabilities goes right to the top. Namely little fascist dictator dick johnson! All the lies uttered by dick johnson and his crooked minions are worthless because the ‘do not resusicate orders are still being placed on disabled women’s and men’s medical history documents!
This is mass murder under cover of the pandemic. Immediate action not worthless lies from the fascist tories is needed!