Cardiopulmonary resuscitation – an update

Last week, the CQC in England published its final report about how ‘do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation’ (DNACPR) decisions were used at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

This was prompted by concerns that DNACPR decisions were being made without involving people, or their families and/or carers if so wished, and were being applied to groups of people, rather than taking into account each person’s individual circumstances.

 The CQC were asked to look at all key sectors, including care homes, primary care and hospitals, and explore implementation of best practice DNACPR guidance.

This follows a letter about Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) and people with a learning disability and or autism that was circulated to local systems in England on 4 March 2020, reinforcing that blanket DNACPR policies are inappropriate whether due to medical condition, disability, or age.

New public and patient facing DNACPR guidance has also been published on nhs.uk.

Back to our March 2021 eNewsletter.