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 adequacy of the practice of giving Do Not Resuscitate orders to people living with learning disabilities during the covid-19 pandemic.

A 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 asked the Care Quality Commission to undertake a review of DNACPR decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic. This review has started and will report later this year.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have issued a number of joint statements to health and care providers reiterating that DNACPR decisions must not be applied in a blanket fashion to any group. The 2020/21 General Medical Services (GMS) contract Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) now includes a requirement for all DNACPR decisions for people with a learning disability to be reviewed. 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. The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to have discussions with stakeholders to discuss issues for people with a learning disability during the pandemic.