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Emergency legislation is needed to protect doctors and nurses from “inappropriate” lawsuits over critical Covid treatment decisions made amid pandemic pressures, health organizations have argued.
A coalition of health organizations has written to Matt Hancock, the Secretary of Health, calling for the law to be updated so that medical workers do not feel “vulnerable to the risk of unlawful murder” when they treat patients with coronavirus “in circumstances beyond their control”.
The letter, coordinated by the Medical Protection Society (MPS), says there are no legal guarantees for coronavirus-related issues such as when there are “spikes in demand for resources that temporarily exceed the offer”.
The coalition, which includes the British Medical Association and the U.K. Physicians ‘Association, wrote:’ While chief medical officers now determine there is a significant risk that the NHS will be overwhelmed within weeks, our Members are concerned that not only will they face in this situation but also that they may later be vulnerable to a criminal investigation by the police.
“There is no national guideline, backed by a clear legal statement, on when a life-sustaining treatment can be legally suspended or withdrawn from a patient to benefit a different patient, and if so, when what conditions. A physician’s first concern is their patients and providing them with the highest quality care at all times.
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Health groups have said that no health care professional should be “above the law” and that emergency legislation should only apply to decisions “made in good faith” and “within circumstances beyond their control and in accordance with the relevant guidelines ”.
The letter goes on to highlight warnings made by Boris Johnson in November that if the NHS is overwhelmed, “doctors and nurses may be forced to choose which patients to treat, who live and who die.”
In the same month, the UK’s chief medical officers, the NHS, the General Medical Council and the Medical Royal Colleges wrote to doctors asking them to be flexible in a second wave, which could force them to work outside of their usual practice.
The letter said regulators such as the GMC would take into account the environment in which doctors work, while “special attention” would be given to “difficult circumstances.”
Despite these assurances, a survey of around 2,420 MPS members in January found that 61% were concerned about an investigation following a clinical decision made in a high-pressure environment.
It also revealed that around 36% feared they would be investigated following a decision to ‘discontinue or suspend life-prolonging treatment due to capacity and resource constraints during the pandemic. “.
The demand for greater legal protections from doctors and nurses follows growing concerns that hospitals will soon be overwhelmed and that the crisis may not peak for several weeks.
On Saturday, the government confirmed that an additional 1,295 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, bringing the UK’s official total to 88,590.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Welfare said: ‘We have reassured NHS staff that the existing compensation agreements will rightly continue to cover the vast majority of liabilities that may arise, and we have taken specific provisions so that any staff not covered by existing indemnity systems will be protected under coronavirus law.
“The regulatory bodies for healthcare professionals and healthcare professionals have issued a joint statement making it clear that any concerns raised will be addressed in the context of the difficult circumstances in which staff operate.”
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