Reports have emerged that people with learning disabilities were given do not resuscitate orders during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is in spite of an urgent investigation by the Care Quality Commission in December which concluded that inappropriate Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) notices had caused potentially avoidable deaths in 2020.
Now, the charity Mencap has said that 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. DNACPRs are used for people who are too frail to benefit from CPR and are common but Mencap has said that some seem to have been issued for people simply because they had a learning disability.
These developments come as campaigners are increasing pressure on government ministers to reconsider a decision not to give people with learning disabilities priority for vaccinations. Although some people with learning disabilities such as Down’s syndrome were in the top four groups set by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) many others were not.
Edel Harris, Mencap’s chief executive has said: “Throughout the pandemic many people with a learning disability have faced shocking discrimination and obstacles to accessing healthcare, with inappropriate Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) notices put on their files and cuts made to their social care support. It’s unacceptable that within a group of people hit so hard by the pandemic, and who even before Covid died on average over 20 years younger than the general population, many are left feeling scared and wondering why they have been left out”.
A spokesperson from the Department of Health and Social Care said: “It is completely unacceptable for ‘do not attempt CPR’ decisions to be applied in a blanket fashion to any group of people. This has never been policy and we have taken action to prevent this from happening. We have asked the CQC to undertake a review of notices issued during the pandemic. This review has started and will report later this year. As this proceeds, we will continue to work across the health and care system to address the issue”.
Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!
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