Get our daily coronavirus email newsletter with all the news you need to know direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Parents of vulnerable and sick children are furious after being asked by GPs to sign Do Not Resuscitate orders if their loved ones catch Covid-19.

One shocked mum, Margaret Ates-Suddes, whose 11-year-old son Ilhan has cancer, yesterday branded the life or death request as inhumane.

Another enraged mother claims her 16 year-old son was called directly by their GP surgery to ask to consent to a DNR form.

The order instructs medics not to perform CPR if a patient stops breathing or their heart stops.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence had told ­doctors to assess people with learning disabilities, autism or cerebral palsy on a “clinical frailty scale” meaning some would be denied ­hospital treatment.

Days later Nice did a U-turn after being ­challenged by disabled charities but there are concerns about how the guidance is being interpreted by GPs.

Ilhan, of Scar-borough, North Yorks, has a rare form of cancer called ­fibrosarcoma in his neck and jaw.

He has to feed through a tube and has a hole in his throat to breath.

Mum Margaret, 32, says the shock call from her GP ­surgery came “totally out of the blue” this week.

She said: “They asked if we wanted a DNR if Ilhan had to be taken to hospital with coronavirus.

“When I ­complained, one GP told me there had been a mistake. But how on earth can someone see an 11-year-old boy’s age on a computer and think that it is ­responsible behaviour? Ilhan is an oncology patient and this is something we would decide with his consultant at Leeds General Infirmary, where the treatment has been amazing.”

She added: “Ilhan has fought cancer for seven years and there’s no way I’m going to let anyone give up on him.

“Nobody has the right to decide whether someone is worthy of CPR or not. Ilhan is a fighter, always has been.”

There was no one available for ­comment at Ilhan’s surgery, which we have chosen not to name.

A 16-year-old lad from Colchester, Essex, also ­received a call from his surgery asking if he would agree to the DNA order. The boy, who has ­asthma and the connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos, has a say in his own care plan.

His mum said: “The surgery called to ask if he had enough asthma packs, then asked if he would agree to a DNR on his notes. He asked them what it meant and when they told him he said, ‘Hell no, I’m only 16.’

“He is about to sit his A-levels. How can his life be worth nothing? He thinks the Government wants him dead.”

Last night the boy’s GP surgery said it was unable to comment due to data protection.

Elizabeth John, 61, of Bridgend, South Wales, also got an apology from her GP surgery after they sent a DNR form.

Elizabeth, who has cancer, said: “I was made to feel like I was worthless and a burden to society. But I’m not dying yet.”

Her surgery wrote: “Our letter was poorly worded and did not properly articulate the care and commitment we have for our ­patients. We would like to sincerely apologise.”

Mencap Chief Executive Edel Harris said: “These letters from GP surgeries are deeply troubling.

"They wrongly ­conflate having support needs with frailty and risk people with a learning disability not getting equal access to healthcare and ­potentially dying avoidably.

“We are extremely concerned these letters have already forced parents or carers to make potentially life or death decisions.”

Labour’s shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “This will already be a hugely worrying time for vulnerable people and their families and being asked to make a decision like this will undoubtedly cause more ­distress for them.

“Families must not be put under unacceptable pressure in these ­circumstances and it’s time NHS ­leaders offered clear guidance.”

A spokesman for NHS England would not comment on individual cases but said: “The key principle is that each person is an individual whose needs and preferences must be taken account of individually.

“Blanket policies are inappropriate whether due to ­medical condition, disability, or age.”