This horrible : Doctors from Madrid receiving instructions not to accept elderly in ICUs
https://vimeo.com/430307457
A video with instructions from a medical chief to his team at a hospital in the Community of Madrid reveals that in mid-March the health workers prepared to receive political orders denying the cure to older people. The doctor says crudely in the recording to the surprise of his colleagues at time the elderly from residential homes had already been excluded from treatment: “They are being given therapy for bacterial infection and if it is a covid, bad luck.”
The video was recorded at the Infanta Cristina de Parla hospital, south of the capital, as part of a preparatory session for an impending scenario of hospital collapse, according to EL PAÍS. A fragment had been circulating on social networks since the end of March without its origin or veracity being known. A hospital spokesperson says the session took place in the second or third week of that month to prepare the team at a critical time. The 19-minute workshop was recorded so that fellow guards could learn information considered “very important”.
The video reinforces the credibility of Madrid families who report that their elders died without medical assistance during the worst month of the pandemic, between mid-March and mid-April. More than 400 children and grandchildren have joined the complaints against the Community of Madrid and several residences for having denied aid to the deceased. In the Madrid residences almost 6,000 people have died from covid-19.
Also internal emails from the Madrid regional government reveal that there were concerns about the legality of refusing to admit care home patients to hospitals right from the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
Madrid has been the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Spain, and care homes in the region have been hit especially hard by the virus. According to figures from the Madrid regional government, 6,007 care home residents died between March 8 and June 2 from Covid-19 or associated symptoms. This figure includes all centers run by social services for the elderly, people with disabilities and those suffering from mental illness.
The emails, seen by EL PAÍS, show that a top regional official tried to warn colleagues in the Madrid government that denying hospital treatment to care home residents could result in “serious legal consequences.” The documents also point to the internal differences within the Madrid executive, which is run by the Popular Party (PP) and Ciudadanos (Citizens) now this video…
