now england's uh care regulator the care
quality commission
in a report to be published tomorrow is
expected to raise serious concerns about
the use of do not resuscitate orders
during the pandemic families and
charities say that the orders which can
deny people
potentially life-saving care have been
wrongly placed on elderly and disabled
people over the past year
at unprecedented rates our social
affairs correspondent michael buchanan
has been hearing the experiences
of one family she was just
she was just lovely in every sense
sonja deleon sewn to her family was
defined by much more than her
schizophrenia and learning disabilities
simon had an absolute zest for life
loved
being with her family you know always
smiling always laughing
has got the moves when the 58 year old
went to hospital last april
her lifelong conditions influenced her
care initially admitted with a fever and
respiratory problems
she tested positive for covid and a do
not resuscitate order was placed in her
medical notes
we'd had no consultation at no point
at no point were we told that that had
taken place
we would have disputed that and we would
have said we don't want that in place
sonya's records contain two do not
resuscitate orders
one sides are learning disabilities as a
justification for it
breaching nhs guidelines the hospital
said an error was made filling the form
absolutely i felt like sam was totally
written off she was dehumanized and
you know her life wasn't of value i just
thought it was
just morally and ethically reprehensible
it just shocked me to the court
sonia dillian was in and out of south
end university hospital throughout april
she died at the end of the month from a
heart attack the hospital said a second
do not resuscitate order was appropriate
and was discussed with two family
members sally rose
and her 85 year old mother i can't
describe
the love that my mum has for science
my mum's been waiting to hear your voice
there is no
way that she would agree
to that being put in place absolutely no
way
at all the pandemic has exposed the
vulnerability of people with learning
disabilities
that up to six times more likely to die
from the virus
and charities have repeatedly
highlighted the alleged misuse of dnr
orders
we see kind of boxes ticked we see
maybe when a conversation hasn't
happened but a box has been ticked
we see issues like learning disability
or
non-verbal as a reason for a do not
resuscitate order that that's
discrimination
an external review of sonia deleon's
hospital care
found it fell short of expected good
practice
a conclusion her family had long reached
you know everyone was like not so
yeah i can't tell you how much you know
we miss her
michael buchanan bbc news essex