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AIBU

CPR on very old sick people.

(103 Posts)
JessM Mon 01-Oct-18 16:23:27

AIBU to think that if someone very old and in very poor health dies of natural causes then they should allowed to do just that without launching a violent, rib cracking assault on them to try to postpone their end. The media present CPR as a magic life-saving technique. It has its place in otherwise healthy people, when the heart has suddenly stopped. But in someone such as the woman in the news item, 89 in poor health, surely the kind thing to do is to just close their eyes. And medical/nursing staff should not feel under pressure to do CPR in such cases. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45671320

notanan2 Wed 03-Oct-18 17:23:09

What the solicitor can do is prepare for scenarios where Dr's "best intetests" opinions differ from the family's understanding of what the person would want. That is all.

And again, only if the disagreement is Drs wanting to treat and family saying no. Not the other way around.

You can refuse to consent to treatment. (Or decline it on behalf of someone you have health power of attorney for). But you can't demand to BE treated (or have your relative resuscitated) if doctors don't deem it to be medically justified.

notanan2 Wed 03-Oct-18 17:33:41

To clarify:

If there are 2 options, and doctors think not treating is the better of the 2, but family (especially with POA) say the person would want the treatment, doctors will usually take that into account and treat.

But if the doctors think the treatment is definitely NOT appropriate, someone with POA cannot make them.

POA will never override the person if they are still capable of making their own decisions.

When they are not, POA works mostlt like normal consent, but not quite. For example an individual may refuse to wash. So long as they have capacity thats up to them. But someone with POA couldnt for example refuse to allow carers to wash their relative. That would raise concerns of financial abuse (preserving the estate to the detriment of the persons quality of life)

Sometimes the court of protection gets POAs overridden when there are concerns that non consenting to treatment for the person are not being made in the persons best interest.

It is a BIG topic.