Families of care home residents not told about ‘do not attempt CPR’ notices

MANY families were not told relatives in care homes would not receive CPR in the event of a cardiac arrest, an inquiry has heard.

Sandra Ford, a GP and member of Care Home Relatives Scotland, told the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry yesterday that care home residents are often issued with a DNA (do not attempt) CPR notice, a common practice as frail people are “highly unlikely” to survive it.

She said this is “fully explained” to families when a loved one moves into a care home, but added this was often not the case during the pandemic.

Her father, who had dementia, died during the pandemic while in a care home, and Ms Ford said his condition worsened due to being isolated.

She said: “Dementia in patients was accelerated due to the isolation and I saw this first-hand with my dad and other residents who I was visiting.

“Residents were lost and unsettled, the atmosphere was bleak and desolate.

“Residents were barrier-nursed in rooms with an infection control station outside.

“Because of Covid, and the neglect of family involvement, very often DNA CPR conversations were not taking place with the family and they were shocked to find out they had been put in place.”

She told how she previously saw her father at least once a week prior to the pandemic, and this then decreased to two 30-minute essential visits during Covid.

Eventually, the visits were brought to a stop, which she believes worsened her father’s condition.

She said: “With family around him his whole life, and then all of a sudden it was absent, he must have felt terribly abandoned and I’m sure that must have caused things to deteriorate for him hugely.”

Her father died on December 28, 2021.

The inquiry then heard from Marian Reynolds, who lost her mother and ex-husband, the father of her children, within a few days of each other during Covid.

Her aunt, who turned 92 in April 2020, near the beginning of the pandemic, was also cut off from her family while living in a care home in Scotland.

Ms Reynolds told the panel her aunt contracted Covid while in her care home and was quarantined, but she is still alive today.

Ms Reynolds, a sheltered housing manager, lamented the excessive rules and regulations in care homes during the pandemic which prevented her aunt from seeing her family.

She asked the inquiry: “My place of work is not covered by the Care Commission. It’s very similar to care homes with common rooms and corridors.

“My residents were not micromanaged and things became possible. Why couldn’t this have been done in care homes?”

The inquiry continues.