Do Not Resuscitate

Recalling the discovery of her father’s DNR notice in his medical notes six years ago, Yasmeen Khan investigates clinical resuscitation, talking to terminally ill patients and bereaved family members. She discusses ethical issues surrounding the use of what is now called a DNAR notice or DNACPR – Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation – examining the recent controversy over the placing of DNAR notices on people with learning disabilities, specifically in relation to the Covid pandemic. Yasmeen talks to representatives from Mencap, the Resuscitation Council UK, medical education and resuscitation expert Dr Linda Dykes, and Merry Varney, the lawyer responsible for representing the Tracey family in a landmark DNAR case. In this 2014 case, the Court of Appeal found that an NHS Trust had a legal duty to tell a patient with mental capacity that a DNACPR order had been placed on their medical records. Following the judgment, all NHS Trusts then had a legal duty to consult with and inform patients if such an order had been placed on their records. Throughout the programme, Yasmeen discusses the events surrounding the death of her father with her best friend, Julie. A Spools Out production for BBC Radio 4