Family fury over ‘do not resuscitate’ order on Down’s syndrome man

Tragic patient Andrew Waters would have been left to die if breathing stopped.

THE furious family of a man given a “do not resuscitate” order by a hospital because he had Down’s syndrome yesterday claimed doctors just wanted to get rid of him.
 

Angry ... parents Mavis and Dennis comforted by their son Martin

The DNR order listed Andrew Waters’ genetic condition and “learning difficulties” among the reasons why he should not be resuscitated if his heart or breathing stopped.

Andrew had only been admitted with a chest infection and medics did not bother to consult his parents about the order. He died earlier this year at the age of 53, but the DNR order did not have a bearing on his death.
Brother Martin, 50, said: “We don’t really know why the order was placed on him.


There was no justification. I was angry and disgusted when I found out. “I think the doctor who did it was disgraceful. It just seemed the more senior doctors there were living in the dark ages.”

Andrew’s dad Dennis, 79, said: “They just wanted to get rid of him. They hadn’t even tried to contact us.
“When we found out we were appalled. We’d like an apology from the doctor who did it. We don’t want this to happen to another family.”
Andrew’s younger brother Michael, 48, added: “If something had happened to him we would not have been there to say goodbye.”
The DNR orders were put in place on two occasions when Andrew was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent, in 2011.
The family only found out when a medical note listing the reasons for the order was discovered in Andrew’s bag after his discharge.
They know the name of the doctor responsible for the order but are not naming him.