The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Pushing DNR orders ‘down to panic’
The Scottish Government “don’t know” why some doctors have pushed older people into do not resuscitate (DNR) orders, according to the equalities minister.
Speaking before the equalities and human rights committee at Holyrood, Christina McKelvie attributed the practice to “panic” that the NHS would be overwhelmed in the early days of the pandemic.
She also committed to find out what investigations the Scottish Government has conducted to establish why it has happened.
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, reports have surfaced of older people being pushed into DNR orders, which state that CPR should not be performed on the person should their heart stop.
In one case, reported by the BBC, the family of a woman in Tayside found an already signed order in her bag when she returned from hospital, prompting an “immediate review” from the health board.
Despite repeated statements from the first minister, health secretary and chief medical officer, charity Age Scotland told the committee last month that older people are still facing pressure to sign the orders.
When asked by Labour MSP Pauline McNeill about where the issue came from, Ms McKelvie told the committee: “I think the honest answer is we don’t know.
“Our guidance didn’t change, our guidance to GPs and other health professionals didn’t change.
“I think there was a bit of a panic at the beginning thinking that the health service would be overwhelmed.
“It came along with the virus as part of a lot of the concerns that came up.”
Earlier in the session, Ms McKelvie told Liberal Democrat MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton that a letter was sent out from a GPs practice in Wales at the beginning of the pandemic leading to “a lot of medical professionals possibly thinking ‘we should have done this”’.
Ms McKelvie added DNR orders should be broached with patients “as part of a gentle anticipatory care plan in a way that respects and supports people’s dignity and human rights”.
Updated guidance will be published “very, very soon”, the minister told MSPs, for GPs and other health professionals.
She added: “We need to get this right, maintain people’s human rights, maintain their dignity and not just scare the bejesus out of people, because that’s what it was doing.”