Elderly suffering fear and anxiety
Elderly people are suffering “fear and anxiety” during the Covid-19 outbreak, with some still being encouraged to sign do not resuscitate (DNR) orders, MSPS have been told.
Care homes and social care may have been treated as “a second-tier service” because of the rush to protect the NHS, according to evidence given to Holyrood’s equalities and human rights committee.
It heard older people are living in fear they will be “left behind as everyone else is looked after” because of failures in the coronavirus response.
Despite repeated statements from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon that people should not be pressured by healthcare workers to complete DNR requests, Age Scotland claims it is still happening.
The charity’s head of policy Adam Stachura said there are cases of DNR forms being “slipped into discharge notes” from hospital and administrative staff calling dementia patients about the agreements. He said: “People didn’t know what the devil a DNR form was, and they thought what this meant was ‘we’re not going to get medical treatment, we’d be left to die if we get this’.”
Although he said the Scottish Government has been trying to “stamp it out”, Mr Stachura explained people are suffering “fear and anxiety that a virus is spreading to the country and they will be left behind as everyone else is looked after”.
He added: “I don’t think that has put us in a good light at all.”
Health secretary Jeane Freeman said: “No-one should ever feel pressured in any way into giving their consent to a ‘do not attempt CPR’ form. The Covid-19 outbreak has brought about no change to the use of ‘do not attempt CPR’ forms in the Scottish NHS and no change to the advice issued to GPS about their use.”
Excess mortality is a calculation of all deaths recorded in a country or region, subtracting the average number of deaths over the same period in the previous five years.
It is considered to be the most reliable and comprehensive measurement of the impact of a pandemic, because it doesn’t just capture deaths directly caused by an illness – in this case, Covid-19 – but also the wider impact on the health service and economy of an area.
It also reveals the full toll even when testing capacity is too low to identify all those who have died of coronavirus.
The UK government has said that a final calculation of excess mortality is the only way to compare the relative effectiveness of different countries’ responses to the pandemic, although a Downing Street spokesman said it is “wrong and premature to be drawing conclusions at this stage”.
What does it mean for the UK?
What do the figures say about Scotland
A wide range of factors contribute to the impact of the outbreak in each country – for instance, the strength of its health service or its testing capacity. But figures compiled by the FT have shown a strong link between how early governments imposed lockdown measures, and the level of excess deaths.
By plotting total excess deaths against the number of coronavirus infections per million on lockdown day, the figures show that countries like Germany, which locked down with fewer than ten infections per million, has had a much lower death toll than the UK, Italy, Spain or Sweden, where lockdown was imposed when the infection level was between two and five times higher.
According to the FT’S analysis, Scotland has suffered 4,600 excess deaths, 53 per cent above what would be expected over the same period in a normal year. That is lower than the 69 per cent increase in England, and below the total for the UK. Excess deaths in Wales are 41 per cent higher than average, and 42 per cent higher in Northern Ireland.
The worst affected region of the UK has been London, where 9,700 excess deaths have been recorded – 130 per cent above average.
The figures are likely to be pored over in months and years to come as governments examine their policy responses, with comparisons between countries – and within the UK.