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Call on the Government to Reply to Petition Calling to Reverse ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ Orders for Covid-19 Patients with Learning Difficulties.

The Government has been sent a petition calling on them to reverse all ‘do not resuscitate’ orders for Covid-19 patients with learning difficulties.  There are over 160,000 signatures now, yet the Government haven’t replied.  This is unacceptable!

We need to ensure this is no longer ignored so can you please email the Health Minister, Matt Hancock MP? 

He will find 160,000 emails hard to ignore!

It would be great if you could also copy in your local MPs and newspapers, so our voices get heard.  Please also send your email to your local Bristol MP.

If you are not sure what to say, you can find some suggested wording here

Send your email to: matt.hancock.mp@parliament.uk with a heading saying End Do Not Resuscitate notices – petition.

The addresses for the four Bristol MPs are the following:

Kerry McCarthy MP (East) – kerry.mccarthy.mp@parliament.uk

Darren Jones MP (North West) – darren.jones.mp@parliament.uk

Karin Smyth MP (South) – karin.smyth.mp@parliament.uk

Thangam Debbonaire (West) – thangam.debbonaire.mp@parliament.uk

If doctors have said you have a learning disability, you might want to say something like this instead.

Dear Mr Hancock MP,

You have been sent a petition signed by about 160,000 people.  It says you should stop doctors putting Do Not Resuscitate orders on the medical records of people like me and some older people.

This should not be allowed.  Only we can know if our life is worth living, even when it has been decided that we are not capable of making decisions.

This is because knowing about medicine is different to knowing what it is like to be me, and whether I would rather be dead than alive. 

You have had the petition for some time now and the issue has been in the news but have not replied – not even to let us know what you think about it. 

I also thought your website says that petitions with 100,000 signatures, or more, should be discussed in parliament, if possible.  But you haven’t told us the government’s decision about this.

We want you to respond to the petition and to let us know if it will be talked about in parliament now.

I will be waiting for your answers.

Yours

[put your full name and address in this space]

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Come and find out what the future Mayor of Bristol will do for Disabled people – and get your questions answered.

Images of the four main political party candidates for Bristol Mayor. From left to right: Caroline Gooch, Liberal Democrats; Marvin Rees, Labour (and current Mayor of Bristol); Alistair Watson, Conservative and; Sandy Hore-Ruthven, Green.

If you are a Disabled person living in Bristol, or you are an organisation working with or representing Disabled people, this is your chance to come and ask the person who will be Mayor of Bristol your question.  Hear what the four main candidates for Bristol Mayor are going to do for Disabled people, and what their answers to Disabled people’s questions are.

We are working on organising this mayoral hustings with Bristol Sight Loss Council, Bristol Reclaiming Independent Living (BRIL), Centre for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People, the Independent Mental Health service user Network (IMHN) and WECIL.

The hustings will take place on Wednesday 28th April from 7.00-9.00 pm. The meeting will be a Zoom meeting.

The candidates from the four main parties – Conservative, Green, Labour and Liberal Democrats – have been invited to talk about what they will do on issues that particularly affect Disabled people. Then they will answer questions Disabled people and their organisations have sent in.

The candidates will only be asked questions that have been sent in, in advance.

If you would like to attend, to send in a question please contact Alun from Bristol Sight Loss Council by email alun.davies@pocklington-trust.org.uk or ring 07779 169019. The closing date for booking your place and sending in your questions is 12.00 pm on Monday 26th April. You do not have to attend to have your question asked, but priority will be given to those people who attend the evening.

We hope you can join us!

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Big Changes for Bristol

Big changes are coming to Bristol over the next 9 years. These will include changes to transport, housing and jobs.


Please share and fill out our survey by April 14th to help us understand your priorities. Your answers will shape our response to the changes. Survey here.

You must identify as Disabled and live or work in Bristol to fill it in.

Thank you for your help.