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Learning Disability England has been working in partnership with Turning Point.
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We have made a guide to help people with learning disabilities, their families and support staff understand DNRs.
What is a DNR?
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A Do Not Attempt Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation order is a medical document.
They are sometimes called DNACPR or DNAR or DNR.
DNACPR is the official name. On this page we are going to call it DNR because its more accessible.
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It means that if someone’s heart stops working doctors will not try to restart it.
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Doctors should only put a DNR order on someone’s file if they believe someone is dying and there is no chance they will get better.
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If doctors do not think restarting someone’s heart will help them get better, they will create a DNR order.
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You and your family should be included in decisions about this.
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No one should have a DNR put on their file just because they have a learning disability.
What do we know about DNRs?
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In April we asked members if they had seen any changes in how many people were given DNRs.
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We were worried that more people might have been given them because of coronavirus. This would be wrong.
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NHS England have said its not right to give people a DNR order just because they have a learning disability.
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18 organisations had seen DNRs placed in people’s medical records without consultation in March and April.
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The survey found around 2/3 of the organisations replying did not report an increase in DNRs in 2020 for the people they support.
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We’ve created another survey to check if things have changed. It would be great if members could fill it in.
You can find the new survey here.
DNR Guide
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We wanted to make sure people know their rights and can challenge doctors if DNRs are put in place when they shouldn’t be.
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We have made this guide in partnership with Turning Point.
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The guide has
- Information about the law and human rights
- A checklist to help you think about what you can do to challenge DNRs
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- Template letters for challenging or getting doctors to help
- Example DNR form so you know what it looks like.
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Here is an easy read about rights.
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Here is an easy read about the questions you can ask to challenge
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We have two versions of the full pack.
There is a interactive digital of the pack which you can view here.
This version helps you identify your issue and takes you to the right template.
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There is also a printable version. You can view it here.
Visit the DNR resource section on our Corona virus Hub for other resources