Coronavirus is revealing many good things about our society: the number of people willing to volunteer to help tackle the outbreak and help the isolated, the number of former doctors and nurses keen to return to the front line, and the number of businesses that have switched to making equipment and protective clothing for those healthcare workers. But it has also revealed our ignorance about many matters that are still important outside of a pandemic.
Today’s example comes, inevitably, from our general reluctance to think about what old age and end-of-life care look like. Care homes have expressed concern that residents and their families are being pressured into signing ‘do not resuscitate’ orders, and that many residents who develop coronavirus will not be admitted to hospital.
Deciding to refrain from cardio-pulmonary resuscitation isn’t a sign a doctor doesn’t want to give you a chance
The reaction to this has been along the same lines as in previous years when stories about doctors trying to discuss DNR orders with patients have surfaced – one of horror that the medical world appears to be abandoning those over a certain age.
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