A grieving son whose dying mum was only given a video consultation over iPad despite her care home being next to a GP surgery has said more could have been done to save her.
Marion Rouse, 67, had begun living at Sandringham Care Home in Bishop Auckland after her husband, who was her primary carer, died of pneumonia and sepsis in October 2020.
On January 9 this year, she tested positive for coronavirus and was rendered bed-ridden with the effects the following Thursday.
Care home staff rang James to tell him that his mum was badly ill but rather than receiving a face-to-face appointment, the mum-of-two was judged to be terminally ill over a video call with a doctor.
Her son James called the care home asking that his mum receive proper treatment, and claims to have been told the Durham Dales Health Federation of GP services now conducts end of life visits over video call.
Marion died on January 16, eight days after she tested positive for the virus.
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James told The Mirror: "If there's no physical exam it must be nigh-on impossible to know if a person is in pain. In person you would understand better if there was any care they needed.
"By the point I was made aware [of her prognosis] it was too late.
"If we had known she hadn't been seen earlier we could have pushed for her to be taken into hospital."
James said a nurse who had been in the 67-year-old's care home checking on other patients in the week before her death did not see her until the day she died.
He said: "Nursing staff at the home called the doctor back to reconsider the decision, but they decided to do a medical consultation over iPad.
"By that point she was quite far down the road to critical illness.
"They decided not to do anything else because the way her breathing was.
"With Covid hours count. The most they could do was write a prescription for end of life drugs for when the time came."
A spokesman for the federation said it was not policy to avoid visiting end-of-life Covid patients but said video consultations form part of the service.
Marion had suffered from a series of health problems since 1992, when she had a big stroke.
On the day that she died, James was able to be with her.
He recalled: "She seemed quite uncomfortable throughout the day.
"I asked a few times for somebody to take a look, but they just said the local trust won't send anybody out for people in care homes who have Covid and it's their own discretion for when they administer end of life drugs.
"The district nurse finally gave her the meds two hours before she died."
While James appreciates the health service is under a huge amount of pressure, he is concerned the remote consultation policy could contribute to the grim Covid death toll.
He said: "I know the NHS is creaking at the seams.
"I lost my father in late October. Even then I could see how strained and stressed the hospital staff are.
"I'm not taking anything away from what they do, but that policy, it may or may not contribute to more people passing away at that point.
"For me it is dignity, it is the quality of their life, their final hours of their life."
A spokesperson for the Durham Dales Health Federation, which runs GP services in the area, said experienced nurse practitioners visited vulnerable patients in care homes.
"Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, our team have continued to visit patients in their homes and in care homes, and it is not our policy to avoid visiting coronavirus patients coming to the end of their life," they said.
"To protect patients and staff, we use video consultations as part of this service, in line with national guidance and good practice, to reduce the risk of carrying the virus into and out of care homes."
They added: "While this is the first time we have heard about Mr Rouse’s concerns, we take all queries from families very seriously and would be happy to discuss this matter with Mr Rouse if he wishes to make contact with us, either by emailing or calling me directly."
