"Do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation..."

Anything else?

What is the point in making relatives go through the agonising process of making the decision to DNACPR someone they dearly love in a care home setting, if when they reach Hull Royal A&E via ambulance , their loved one is resuscitated by CPR and then transferred to a ward and put on the Liverpool Care Pathway? Don't get me wrong, despite the media frenzy surrounding the the LCP, I'm a firm believer in the philosophy behind the plan. When it is inevitable that someone is going to die, they should be supported in every way to have as "good" a death as is possible. However as I'm writing this, the lady in question -a lovely,caring, funny, courageous lady who is a much loved wife, mother and grandma- has spent six days dying and has still some way to go. Despite having no fluids or food for that time,she's still hanging on in there and we as a family take turns to watch and wait, stroking her hand,combing her hair, talking to her about all the things that are going on around her and reliving memories with her... At times she seems distressed and agitated and we ask for drugs to relieve her discomfort and these are dutifully (and compassionately) supplied. We have no complaint about the quality of care that she has received on the ward. The reason for writing this review is that six days ago if the DNACPR information had been transferred to her new care setting and respected, she would have died, quite naturally and quickly -which was best for her( not best for us, but best for her). That would have been the "good death" that the LCP aims for. Whoever is in charge of creating and monitoring DNACPR protocols in these cases should be very aware of the real term consequences to people's lives (and deaths) when these very difficult and agonised over choices are either ignored or not transferred to new care settings. As a family, we know full well, that we have several more stages that we are likely to go through before this lovely lady reaches her own personal "good death". Dyspnea, respiratory congestion,agitated delirium. Already we have had to endure having to see her waste away before our eyes so that she becomes unrecognisable, crying out in distress when someone moistens her mouth because it is so sore and sensitive. And all this needless suffering and pain to her and so many people around her is because someone in the chain of information failed to pass on a simple form. Whoever it was-shame on you.