Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of reports of do not resuscitate notices being given to patients with learning disabilities during the second wave of covid-19.

Learning disability should never be a reason for a Do Not Attempt Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decision and blanket DNACPR decisions for whole groups of people are completely inappropriate. We have communicated this through a number of channels to the National Health Service in England.

We have asked the Care Quality Commission to undertake a review of DNACPR decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic. We do not currently have evidence to suggest widespread practice of inappropriate DNACPR decisions for people with a learning disability at this time. However, we continue to monitor the situation and have invited charities to inform us where cases of inappropriate practice are identified.