Yesterday, I led an Adjournment Debate focusing on the decisions regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation during the covid-19 outbreak. I want to make it clear that DNACPR orders are an appropriate part of our health and care system and can be a right and proper part of an individual’s care plan. We need to distinguish between what might be called beneficial and futile uses of CPR. The value of this debate is to help communicate the expectation that all patients receive the care that they need right up until the moment of death.
We need a moral framework that honours the dignity of sick, disabled, elderly or dying people. The ultimate locus of decision making should be in the conversations between doctors and patients, and those who know and love them. The only way to ensure good conversations is to ensure that doctors and families have at heart the best interests of patients. We in this place can encourage good conversations and the right decisions by stating as clearly as we can that human life is infinitely precious, right until the end.