A watchdog group has said that patients with learning difficulties in the UK who contracted the coronavirus were given unnecessary orders not to resuscitate.
Mencap, a watchdog group aimed at helping people with learning disabilities, has said they have received multiple reports of coronavirus patients with learning disabilities who were told they would not be resuscitated if their health deteriorated, according to a report by The Guardian.
During the pandemic, many people with learning disabilities faced shocking discrimination and obstacles to accessing health care, with inappropriate Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) notifications on their records and cuts in their social care, “Edel Harris, Mencap’s CEO, told The Guardian.
The orders not to resuscitate may have cost lives during last year’s pandemic, said The Care Quality Commission, a health care regulator in the UK, said.
According to the news source, it is not immediately clear why these orders were placed with people with learning disabilities. Orders for non-CPR are usually given to people who cannot withstand CPR.
New evidence also suggests that people with learning disabilities are more likely to have serious negative health consequences from the virus, according to The Guardian.
The UK is stuck again as the country continues to fight the new, more contagious British variant of the coronavirus virus.
In the first five weeks of their most recent lockdown, the National Health Service, the UK’s government-funded healthcare system, has found that 65 percent of COVID-19 deaths are related to people with disabilities, the Guardian reported.
And despite evidence of disproportionate effects, there has been debate in the country about whether people with learning disabilities should be a priority to receive vaccinations.
“It is unacceptable that within a group of people so hard hit by the pandemic, who even before Covid died on average more than 20 years younger than the general population, many are afraid and wonder why they have been left out,” Harris said. .
The Hill has contacted Mencap for comment.