Disabled People’s Organisations Criticise ‘Straightforward Abandonment’ of Disabled People in the Pandemic

Represented by a legal team led by Danny Friedman KC instructed by Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, the DPOs argued that the harms suffered by Disabled people were a “terribly inevitable” outcome of how the UK structures its care system. They pointed to a lack of planning, combined with longstanding political and economic choices resulting in a system where “Disabled people’s lives are absolutely valued less.”

The DPOs drew attention to surveys and reports which revealed widespread cuts to care packages across the country, leaving people without the assistance they needed to eat, being left in bed for days, soiling themselves in wheelchairs and losing home physiotherapy or daily contact visits that could forever damage their bodies and development. There was no meaningful oversight of reductions in care services which resulted in the “straightforward abandonment” of Disabled people living independently in their communities.

Earlier in the hearings, on the subject of ‘Do Not Attempt Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation’ (DNACPR) notices, former Secretary of State Matt Hancock had given evidence that in his view inappropriate use of DNACPR notices was “one of a number of narrow conspiracy theories that have grown up in this space”.

Noting that “some people at the top of the chains of responsibility” continued to minimise the issue, the Danny Friedman KC referred the Inquiry to widespread evidence that “there were blanket approaches to agree to non-resuscitation notices that were flagrantly in violation of existing guidelines”. He referred to evidence that in some cases people with learning disabilities were denied access to hospital treatment, and ambulance services were instructed not to attend homes where DNACPR orders were in place. Friedman concluded that “there was literally targeting of people with learning disabilities” and underscored how this practice reflected “a disturbing predisposition across services about the value of Disabled peoples’ lives”.

The DPOs also outlined how routine care sector inspections should never have been stopped in the pandemic and that without them, there was a lost opportunity for regulators to view records, meet with residents, understand the environment, and reassure relatives. As a consequence, they said: “regulators in each of the four nations allowed their independence to be compromised, the nature of their role to be confused and the importance of their oversight function to be undermined”.

Georgia Bondy - Covid Inquiry Manager working with Disability Rights UK said: "This module has made clear to the Inquiry what many Disabled people have known for a long time; when weighed in the balance, the government, the care system and the NHS treat Disabled people's survival as mattering less than non-disabled peoples."