Yahoo Finance NHS doctor reveals she is asking patients if they want to die at home or in hospital
A doctor says she is having to ask patients whether they would prefer to die at home or in hospital as the NHS struggles to cope with the coronavirus outbreak.
Dr Katie Sanderson, a junior doctor in acute medicine at a London hospital, told BBC Radio 4 the health service was being put under severe strain by the rising rate of infections.
The situation is now so bad that she has been forced to ask patients and their families about where they want to die if their condition deteriorates, she added.
“I’m having conversations with patients and families of patients asking if they want to die in hospital, where we’re not allowed to have visitors, or if they want to die at home.”
“They’re conversations that last week I cannot have imagined having.”
“Even if this is not the situation in hospitals outside London yet, things are going to evolve incredibly rapidly there and what I would say is; don’t think about hospital bed numbers, intensive care, capacity today.
“Think about where we will be tomorrow, the day after, next week.”
Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice
Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world
Fact-checker: The number of Covid-19 cases in your local area
Explained: Symptoms, latest advice and how it compares to the flu
Dr Sanderson urged people to follow the government’s advice and observe the lockdown conditions.
“Really, really, take this seriously,” she told MailOnline, “I have heard people say, ‘I want to get coronavirus so that I will be immune.’ It doesn’t work like that.
“If you do not take this seriously, you are condemning someone to potentially dying with a nurse they don’t know, because we are not allowing visitors in hospitals. That, or dying at home.”
“Challenge someone if you think they are doing something dangerous; anything you see that is dangerous. Don’t just think someone else is going to do it.”
Her plea comes after Boris Johnson announced a series of sweeping draconian measures which will be in place for at least three weeks and will also see the closure of libraries, playgrounds and outdoor gyms, and places of worship.
He also threatened police fines for anyone who ignores new measures including a ban on public gatherings of more than two people.
Johnson ordered people to only leave the house to shop for basic necessities “as infrequently as possible” and to perform one form of exercise a day.
