Triage, DNRs. palliative care etc

[Orangeblossom78]

I was just reading about the US and DNRs and also the UK approach to how to triage patients etc, for example www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/17/coronavirus-force-nhs-terrible-choices-covid19

Glad to see they are considering end of life conversations with e.g. care home residents and families, so they might have a peaceful and dignified care / death if that happens, rather than the scenes online of elderly folk rushed into hospital

"Dr Jonathan Leach, joint honorary secretary of the Royal College of General Practitioners and a clinical lead on the plans, says his practice, like many, is discussing how to cope with six local care homes. With mortality rates high, he says, “it’s not in patients’ interests to admit them. We need to have meaningful conversations with families about what might happen. We will tell ambulance services not to take them to hospital.”

Anyone over 80 or with significant underlying health conditions is unlikely to be admitted to hospital once the ICUs are full. Same is already happening in America. Automatic Do Not Resuscitate orders on all COVID patients due to low likelihood of successful CPR

amp.freep.com/amp/5085702002

I wonder about the differences in palliative care in some countries.

If you think about it, Italy was going to take patients such as in the Charlie Gard case, going to keep on ventilators whereas here it would be end of life care.

I wonder how such approaches affect patents in this situation. i feel it is kinder in a way to have good palliative care than the stress and panic of admission into hospital.

That was a private hospital that was doing it for the money, not for the patients best interests