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COVID-19: Autistic support group 'told it needed DNR orders'

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ASPartOfMe
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10 Apr 2020, 2:05 am

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Quote:
A GP surgery which said autistic adults should have plans to prevent them being resuscitated if they become critically ill has been criticised.

Voyage Care, which cares for the group, was sent the letter by a surgery in Somerset amid the coronavirus crisis.

On Twitter, the firm's boss Andrew Cannon said there had been "no consultation with families" and most involved were "working age adults".

Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has declined to name the surgery.

It said it was investigating the matter.

The paperwork is known as a "do not resuscitate" (DNR) order or an advanced care plan.

It is sometimes used if someone is nearing the end of their life or have a complex medical condition.

The paperwork is usually drawn up by medical professionals with the co-operation of the patient in question, if they have capacity to do so, or with their family.

The Somerset Local Medical Committee, which represents all GP practices in the county, said the letter had been withdrawn.

The CCG was alerted by the Somerset Parent Carer Forum.

A forum spokesman said: "We have reported our concerns to Somerset CCG that this has happened with our area and they are taking this matter very seriously.

"The CCG are investigating the reports that have been made and have assured us they will take appropriate action. Please do let us know if you come across this."

Similar cases happened last week in Brighton and south Wales, as health and social carers respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

A number of organisations, including NHS England and the British Medical Association, have issued guidance in recent days to say blanket DNRs - covering all the people at one setting - are "unacceptable" and all decisions must been made on an individual basis.

They also say a learning disability, autism or stable long-term disability like cerebral palsy, are not in themselves ever reasons for a DNR.


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Karamazov
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10 Apr 2020, 2:47 am

This pandemic does seem to be bringing the closet eugenicists out of the woodwork doesn’t it? :|



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10 Apr 2020, 2:57 am

^A bit surprised at this, expected UK to generally be more progressive.
Somerset has an average size population but demographically not much variety, is this what conservative tendencies can produce?



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10 Apr 2020, 4:42 am

^ Maybe, I don’t know what the political sympathies of the GPs in question are, but you are right that Somerset is a relatively isolated, ethnically homogenous rural area: pro-brexit (albeit not heavily so) and the electoral base of Jacob Rees-Mogg, although I doubt he’s pro-eugenics being that he’s very emphatically catholic.
Somerset is also where the members of the elite who can’t afford rural mansions in the Cotswolds hang out.

Edited in afterthought: whilst the GPs surgery is in Somerset, so is the group that reported them to the national medical authorities upon receipt of the letter, don’t think we have sufficient evidence from this particular event to make generalisation about the disposition on this issue of the population of the shire as a whole.



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10 Apr 2020, 5:08 am

Yeah fair point, black and white thinking there on my part.
Also bias :)

Also DNR letters for all Voyage care clients in:
Derbyshire
East Sussex
And similar letters issued last week in:
Brighton
South Wales

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-somerset-52217868



Karamazov
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10 Apr 2020, 6:06 am

^ Yes, one can note that these are all demographically distinct areas with differing historical voting patterns.
Worrying that we have folks with these views in general practice here: but also heartening that they are being reported to both authorities and the press.



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10 Apr 2020, 6:46 am

ASPartOfMe wrote:
BBC
Quote:
A GP surgery which said autistic adults should have plans to prevent them being resuscitated if they become critically ill has been criticised.

Voyage Care, which cares for the group, was sent the letter by a surgery in Somerset amid the coronavirus crisis.

On Twitter, the firm's boss Andrew Cannon said there had been "no consultation with families" and most involved were "working age adults".

Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has declined to name the surgery.

It said it was investigating the matter.

The paperwork is known as a "do not resuscitate" (DNR) order or an advanced care plan.

It is sometimes used if someone is nearing the end of their life or have a complex medical condition.

The paperwork is usually drawn up by medical professionals with the co-operation of the patient in question, if they have capacity to do so, or with their family.

The Somerset Local Medical Committee, which represents all GP practices in the county, said the letter had been withdrawn.

The CCG was alerted by the Somerset Parent Carer Forum.

A forum spokesman said: "We have reported our concerns to Somerset CCG that this has happened with our area and they are taking this matter very seriously.

"The CCG are investigating the reports that have been made and have assured us they will take appropriate action. Please do let us know if you come across this."

Similar cases happened last week in Brighton and south Wales, as health and social carers respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

A number of organisations, including NHS England and the British Medical Association, have issued guidance in recent days to say blanket DNRs - covering all the people at one setting - are "unacceptable" and all decisions must been made on an individual basis.

They also say a learning disability, autism or stable long-term disability like cerebral palsy, are not in themselves ever reasons for a DNR.




What!! !! !! Such a doctor should have his license to practice medicine revoked and stand trial. What has happened to England?


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Karamazov
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10 Apr 2020, 7:00 am

Teach51 wrote:
What!! ! ! ! ! Such a doctor should have his license to practice medicine revoked and stand trial. What has happened to England?


I don’t know: many times over the last decade I’ve felt like I’m living in the midst of a gigantic resentment fuelled self-pity party. :(



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10 Apr 2020, 9:48 am

I wouldn't want to be an older person on the spectrum in the UK, especially one without a committed advocate.
These DNR letters were sent to the elderly, patients with incurable/untreatable terminal illnesses and those with neurological conditions including autism and cerebral palsy.

Image



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10 Apr 2020, 10:01 am

Guess we are useless feeders.


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10 Apr 2020, 10:02 am

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_unworthy_of_life


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Karamazov
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10 Apr 2020, 11:22 am

They question occurs to me: are the GPs in question deliberately sending these letters out to people they shouldn’t be?
Or
Are they getting their secretaries to generate generic letters to “all patients with incurable conditions”... and it’s a distressing and alarming cock-up?



kraftiekortie
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10 Apr 2020, 11:26 am

It’s a distressing letter—but nowhere is autism mentioned.



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10 Apr 2020, 11:40 am

Well at least my parents don't think I'm worthless and a burden on society. Mainly because they actually KNOW me.

:(



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10 Apr 2020, 11:51 am

Karamazov wrote:
They question occurs to me: are the GPs in question deliberately sending these letters out to people they shouldn’t be?
Or
Are they getting their secretaries to generate generic letters to “all patients with incurable conditions”... and it’s a distressing and alarming cock-up?

Couldnt say, but there is a pattern across the vulnerable groups; the elderly, the ill and people with additional needs.
Age UKs response
Quote:
OLDER PEOPLE BEING PRESSURISED INTO SIGNING DO NOT ATTEMPT CPR FORMS - JOINT STATEMENT FROM AGE SECTOR ORGANISATIONS
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/latest-press/articles/2020/04/age-uk-response-to-dnr-forms/#



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10 Apr 2020, 12:03 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:
It’s a distressing letter—but nowhere is autism mentioned.

It's a leaked letter from an a anonymous patient in Wales.

The DNR letters sent to Voyage care were specific enough to refer to all their clients.
Taken from Somerset Voyage care webpage
Quote:
We support people with various needs, including learning disabilities, autism, brain injuries and other complex needs.


Andrew Cannon @VoyageCEO
Quote:
Also today, three services (in Somerset, Derbyshire and East Sussex) where GPs have contacted the teams to say that they have deemed the people we support should ALL be DNR. No consultation with families, no best interests. Mostly working age adults. We will fight this.