ReSPECT (Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment) supports meaningful, person-centred conversations about future emergency care. Ensuring that people’s priorities, values and goals of care are understood and respected is essential when they may not be able to express what is important to them in an emergency.
Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) has published an updated policy briefing outlining the progress of ReSPECT across the UK and setting out key recommendations to support consistent, high-quality emergency care and treatment planning in all four nations.
Since its launch in 2016, the ReSPECT process has become the primary emergency care and treatment planning approach across much of England and Scotland, and will soon be adopted across Northern Ireland. ReSPECT remains the only emergency care and treatment plan designed for use with people of all ages, in every care setting, across the whole of the UK.
The updated briefing highlights:
- significant progress in national adoption, including full rollout across Northern Ireland in 2026
- the importance of digital accessibility, with ReSPECT already live on Scotland’s National Digital Platform and growing integration across digital health records in England
- opportunities for improvement, including the need for a consistent, UK-wide approach to emergency care and treatment planning
- evidence from published research demonstrating how ReSPECT improves communication, reduces misunderstandings, and supports safer, person-centred decision-making.
RCUK continues to advocate for ReSPECT to become a nationwide standard, ensuring clarity in emergency care and treatment planning for individuals, families and healthcare professionals.
Read the full policy briefing here.