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Families In The Dark Over 'No CPR' Order

Tens of thousands of families have been left in the dark when hospitals have imposed "do not resuscitate" orders on their loved ones, according to a study.

A Royal College of Physicians audit found that out of 9,000 dying patients, one in five families were not told that CPR would be withheld.

That is the equivalent of up to 40,000 patients every year, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Overall, it is estimated 200,000 patients every year are subject to an order not to perform CPR in the case of cardiac arrest or if a patient stops breathing.

In 16% of the cases looked at by the Royal College of Physicians there was no record of a conversation with the patient about the order.

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Professor Sam Ahmedzai, the audit's chairman, told the Telegraph: "When a decision has been taken, it is unforgivable not to have a conversation with the patient - if they are conscious and able - or with the family."

Doctors need to be more open with dying patients, added Prof Ahmedzai, because half of those identified as likely to be dying were dead by the next day.

"This is being done very late in the day - as doctors we just don't like to face up to it," he said.

But he admitted that for many patients - such as those dying with cancer and dementia - resuscitation would not be appropriate.

"It would be quite inappropriate for a doctor, a crash team, to come along and start pounding on the chest, putting tubes in when actually the person is reaching the end of their life and no amount of resuscitation is going to help."

An NHS England spokeswoman said: "We welcome the results of this audit, which we commissioned, and which shows there has been some improvement in the care provided.

"But there is clearly more that can be done. Although this audit presents a snapshot of end-of-life care within NHS hospitals, there are clear variations in the support and services received across hospitals and areas where improvements must continue to be made."