Chris Whitty Quizzed on Use of DNRs at COVID Inquiry

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Sir Chris Whitty said he knew nothing about the “inappropriate use” of “do not resuscitate” orders given to patients diagnosed with COVID-19 when he appeared before the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Thursday. Whitty was questioned by Aswini Weereratne, KC on behalf of COVID-bereaved families in Wales about the use of “do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation” (DNACPR) notices and the use of clinical frailty scores during the lockdown era. The scores would determine which patients diagnosed with the virus should receive potentially life-saving treatment and which should be effectively left to die if they stopped breathing. Weereratne told the inquiry, sitting in London: “At the onset of the pandemic, there was widespread reporting of unacceptable practices around DNACPR and the use of clinical frailty scores in the escalation of care and ceilings of treatment....