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Urgent Help Needed - DO NOT RESUSCITATE

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HI All

 

Does anyone know anywhere on the net or from personal experiance what the law is on a doctor being able to decide not to Resuscitate an 18 year old with cerebral palsy ?

 

I dont want to go into details as this is a deeply personal and emotive situation but if anyone can PM me with information on this subject, or if you have been in this situation please pm me, time is of the essense.

 

Thank You

Edited by Kashul

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This is from wiki

 

In England, for DNR as for any medical treatment, by default only the patient can give informed consent, if they have capacity as defined under the Mental Capacity Act 2005; if they lack capacity relatives will often be asked for their opinion out of respect but it does not have hard legal force on the doctors' decision. In this situation, it is their doctor's duty to act in their 'best interest', whether that means continuing or discontinuing treatment, using their clinical judgment. Alternatively, patients may specify their wishes and/or devolve their decision-making to a proxy using an advance directive, which are commonly referred to as 'Living Wills'.

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hmm ok, so does this mean then that they cannot legally say no to this. As I say I cannot go into detail but this is wrong, it is so so wrong and not what the family or the young man in question want, I am convinced this is about money not what is right for him.

 

I am googling like mad, if anyone knows of anyone that can help please please get intouch, I cannot tell you how wrong this is.

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PALS ?? What is that please

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PALS ?? What is that please

 

Patient Advice and Liason Service.

 

Every hospital will have a service, it is their job to represent patients and their families and in my experience they are very good at getting Doctors to pay attention to what the families are saying.

 

It may be that there isn't a PALS service available on the weekend, if you feel your concern is urgent then you should ask to speak to the senior manager in charge of the hospital today.

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Ok, thanks for that I will make a call and let them know now. I appreciate you taking the time to let me know x

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HI All

 

Does anyone know anywhere on the net or from personal experiance what the law is on a doctor being able to decide not to Resuscitate an 18 year old with cerebral palsy ?

 

I dont want to go into details as this is a deeply personal and emotive situation but if anyone can PM me with information on this subject, or if you have been in this situation please pm me, time is of the essense.

 

Thank You

 

My father in law died last year in October from lung cancer he said when I die I want to be resuscitatdd but doctor reckomended not to be but he said no I want to be so they had to do it when the time came it was pointless to be honest but they have to respect that because it was a dieing wish

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Patients with mental capacity to understand the options open to them can decide whether they want to refuse particular treatment.

 

However, where the patient is too young to understand and weigh up the options or lacks mental capacity, decisions come down to what is in the patient's best interests.

 

Problems can arise if a family disagrees with doctors' assessment of what is in the best interests of a particular patient. In this case if discussions fail to resolve the dilemma a court can be asked to decide.

 

In the case that your relative/friend does not have full mental capacity I would advise you to seek a free half hour with a solicitor.

 

P.S it also depends whether there is a Lasting Power of Attorney.

Edited by warrior8

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Thanks for all your support guys all valuable information x

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Our thoughts are with you, hope you can work it out with the professionals who will be on your side as we are:love:

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A dear relative of mine died in a Sheffield hospital after they'd put a DNR on her notes, a week previously. We had no idea we could challenge the decision and at the time, we were in such a state really, and not really with it. We weren't ever told we could make any comments, complaints about the decision. A week later, she was much brighter, sat up in bed, doing fabulously considering the catalogue of errors she had to suffer at the hands of the hospital, she died but the DNR was still on her notes and they refused to resuscitate even though our family was crying and begging for them to do something, as this was still on her notes, they would not send for the crash team, a relative tried to resuscitate her himself,. It was absolutely heartbreaking. All I want to say really is if this is EVER on the notes of your relative, MAKE SURE IT IS REVIEWED IF THERE ARE IMPROVEMENTS! As others have said, I would speak to the PALS service too, and a solicitor. We had Irwin Mitchells but we weren't satisfied with the job they did.

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