A 88-year-old woman with a CFS of 6 and advanced COPD has a ReSPECT form completed during a recent hospital admission stating that CPR should not be a...

Question

A 88-year-old woman with a CFS of 6 and advanced COPD has a ReSPECT form completed during a recent hospital admission stating that CPR should not be attempted. She is now at home and feeling well. Her daughter finds the form and is upset, saying 'You're giving up on my mother.' How should the GP respond?

Accepted Answer

Explain that the ReSPECT form reflects a holistic assessment of her clinical condition and that CPR in this context has a very low chance of success and high chance of harm, while reassuring that all other appropriate treatments will continue

Answer

Remove the ReSPECT form to avoid family distress

Answer

Tell the daughter that she has no right to see the form

Answer

Agree that the ReSPECT decision was wrong and reverse it without clinical reassessment

Answer

Avoid the conversation and defer to the hospital team

uk-dgm MCQ (SBA): Communicating DNACPR Decisions to Families