Kinder to leave elderly people with coronavirus in care homes?

I was thinking just that, today.
Having worked in care homes, with many people having dementia, it was often the case that people who had sufficient understanding would refuse life extending treatment.
Presumably they felt it would be too much of an ordeal for too little gain.
The main risk of keeping covid sufferers in the care home, of course, is that of infecting other residents and the staff.

our deaths are standing around 2000 with 39% of those from care homes,figures are updated weekly .Deaths IN hospitals are dropping while care home ones haven't peaked.Due mainly to people being sent back to care homes after just one test ,new rules now in place where they must be tested and have at least two negative tests days apart before they can go back .I believe there were over 4000 added to the English figure today and that it was said to be an underestimate .

I think each case should be judged individually to try and jointly make the best decision for that person. If someone is unlikely to recover whatever is done, it can be best to spare them the trauma of urgent admission procedures, noisy A&E departments, tubes and drips and other invasive treatments, when their interests might best be served by remaining in a context that they know so that they can depart this life in peace with people they know around them.

It is a case by case decision.

Just watched the news tonight showing the extremely high (death rate) statistics for care homes in Scotland . Those poor people.

My DH spent many weeks in ICU in an induced coma and on a ventilator at the end of last year . I spent almost my every awaking hour just sitting there holding his hand listening to the sound of the ventilator keeping him alive. I cannot for the life of me imagine what It might be like for a loved one not to be allowed to visit .

It’s heartbreaking .

Yes I agree with you Mazie, my stepdaughter is a manager in a care home
She and her staff have inadequate PPE, her hands are blistered and sore with washing . She agrees that she is not qualified to deal with this
They are, sadly, fighting a losing battle
There are now positive cases in the home
We are extremely worried about her, yet still she goes to work, to do what she can
You know, just give these people the equipment they deserve to protect themselves, while they are doing their very best to protect the most vulnerable in society

Nursing homes will always have qualified nursing staff on duty.
A care home doesn't necessarily have medically qualified staff on duty but will be staffed by qualified care assistants, so yes, there is a difference.
A home dealing with dementia patients will have medically qualified staff who should be further trained in dementia care so could possibly be the best people to nurse confused patients.

A doctor would need to assess whether an elderly person with dementia would benefit from intervention and surely the family, if there is one, should be involved in the decision too?

My OH's uncle is on a ventilator in ITU ,he wasn't expected to make it through last night but he's still here and we have our fingers crossed he'll make it through.Hes a lovely man and my MIL is in bits that no one can visit .Its really hard on the family ,I dont think it would make it better by leaving folk in care homes though as at least he's getting the best help available. Uncle was in his own home and we have no idea how he has caught it ,unless while shopping ,hes a very healthy fit man who has always looked after himself .

Elderly people die in care homes as well as nursing homes.

I heard I think the manager of a care home say how distressing it is to even attempt to test elderly and especially dementia patients so I am sure moving them to a hospital such as one of the Nightingales as suggested to Dominic Raab this afternoon n the Covid19 briefing would be terrifying for them.Sometimes just because you can does not always mean you should.
And yes, despite having unqualified respect for the sanctity of life, I think there will be many cases where a peaceful end would be vastly preferable to “officiously striving to keep alive”, but I could not possibly say that should apply except in the case of someone close to me.
At the end, Paw had signed a DNR and so we knew that despite all the best efforts to support his organs in the hope that some of all would recover, it was a hopeless task. Had he suffered from dementia or been very old and frail, I would still have felt invasive treatment or a move to a vast field hospital like any of the Nightingales would not have been what he wanted either.

Care homes are not nursing homes. How kind is it to the very poorly paid and unqualified staff to expect them to nurse residents in what could be their terminal illness?

And how kind is it to the other residents, and to staff, to expose them to a high risk of infection?

I understand where the OP is coming from, but surely care homes are not the appropriate setting in which to deal with very sick residents who have a highly contagious disease.

Yes, I think it would be kinder to keep people in familiar surroundings, with people they know.
Would it be possible, though, for them to be comfortable enough without any medical care?

I heard someone on the radio (I presume a doctor) saying that ventilating a very elderly patient wouldn’t have a good outcome and I think it’s a quite traumatic procedure.
I think the decision to refer to hospital has to be taken after discussion with both the patient and the family. But in the end it comes down to how long doctors should ‘strive officiously to keep alive’.

The hospital treatment is too severe for a frail elderly person and it would be cruel to attempt resuscitation, as would intubation in readiness for ventilators.