A survey has been launched to uncover the impact of covid-19 on disabled people amid mounting concerns those with health problems could be denied live-saving treatment as doctors ration intensive care space.

There is increasing anecdotal evidence that older people are being asked to sign do not attempt resuscitation orders, with fears the reported cases could be the “tip of the iceberg”.

Dr Sally Witcher, CEO of disabled people’s charity Inclusion Scotland that is behind the questionnaire, told healthandcare.scot: “People are extremely and understandably anxious about this."

“Some of us are very much at risk and some of us are going to die because of the virus – the worrying thing being that it might not be the virus that kills us, but whether we get equal access to life-saving treatment.”

Guidance from the Scottish Government issued last week encouraged GPs to get ‘anticipatory care plans’ in place for patients who are most at-risk.

Although these are a standard part of clinical practice, Dr Witcher warns “this is not being done in a way which is at all sensitive or appropriate in the cases we’ve come across.”

The survey, which can be accessed online, covers a range of issues, including benefits, carers and access to food and medicines.

There are also questions on the mental health effects of the ‘shielding’ measures for people with certain health conditions who are being asked not to leave their homes for 12 weeks.

Cuts to support have prompted concerns that vulnerable people could be left “abandoned”. In one case, a woman was told care visits would stop and she would have to care for her 85-year-old mother herself, even if the daughter had covid-19 symptoms.

Inclusion Scotland says it has been told by NHS Scotland clinical director Jason Leitch there is ‘no blanket approach based on age or disability’.

But the charity wants to find out whether this is still happening on the frontline.

“There may be very positive intentions coming out of the Scottish Government but we know there can be a vast chasm between good intentions and what actually happens on the ground,” Dr Witcher says.

“That’s a concern we have and that’s why are so keen to make sure we are gathering lived experience and communicating it to decision-makers.”

Last week campaigners issued a joint plea against a blanket use of age to ration acute care.

They warned this was a “very poor proxy for an individual’s health status and resilience”.

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