Since introducing the ReSPECT (Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment) process in 2016, Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) has continued to support its evolution and the improvement of the documentation that supports the process.
From Wednesday 16th September 2020, version 3 of the plan has been available for you to use.
RCUK has produced this information resource to help adopters like you to embed the ReSPECT plan into your practice.
If you are a healthcare organisation wishing to adopt ReSPECT in your locality, please contact info@respectprocess.org.uk.
No, this is optional. This section has been introduced in response to feedback from professionals and patients, but we appreciate that not all patients/legal proxy or family members will want to sign it.
We encourage you to offer patients/family members this option, but without pressurising them to do so. The option for patient/legal proxy or family member to sign the document if they wish, allows all those involved to demonstrate that the patient, or their legal proxy and/or a family member has been actively involved in the discussion and recommendations about the person’s care and treatment.
The signatures do not make the recommendations on the plan legally binding and it is important that patients/family members are made aware of this, as this is a common misunderstanding.
The professional’s signature confirms they are taking responsibility for adhering to best practice in following the ReSPECT process and for complying with capacity and human rights legislation.
Yes. When the ReSPECT process is used and the plan is completed, it’s important for professionals and patients to remember that this plan will be used in an emergency by other professionals, such as ambulance crews, first responders and out-of-hours doctors.
So, we ask that you complete it thoroughly to ensure that conversations and recommendations are recorded accurately and clearly before it is placed in use. We recognise that completing the plan in one go may not be possible and several conversations may need to take place over a period of time before it is placed in use.
Yes. You will need to arrange printing of the ReSPECT plan yourselves using your own suppliers or alternatively contact our printer company on ReSPECT@allaboutprint.co.uk to arrange your printing.
No, they don’t. Any previously recorded conversations and recommendations using the ReSPECT process can still be used to guide clinical decision making in an emergency. When there is next contact between the clinician and patient, that can be used as an opportunity to check whether all the details on their plan remain current, and to transfer full and up-to-date details on to a version 3 plan.
This will depend entirely on the platform in use and the way in which the ReSPECT plan needs to be digitised within the system. If you are unsure about this, please contact us and we can connect you with other organisations using the same platform or give you more specific guidance.
Yes. The content of the ReSPECT plan should still be taken into account providing there are 3 points of a person’s identification recorded on the plan.
The content of the ReSPECT plan, particularly around the realistic care and treatment options should reflect the person’s current health conditions, social circumstances and the environment where they are being discharged. Therefore the language around the care and treatment options should reflect what can be provided for example, in the community.
A ReSPECT conversation should have taken place prior to discharge and the plan should have been updated. If the plan has not been updated prior to hospital discharge a ReSPECT conversation/review and update of the plan should take place in the community.
The ReSPECT plan is a clinical document and forms part of the clinical records and consequently should be stored securely for 10 years.
The ReSPECT plan is a clinical document and forms part of the clinical records and consequently should be stored securely for 7 years.
Yes a digital signature is acceptable as long as the clinician’s GMC or NMC number is also recorded on the ReSPECT plan along with the date of the signature.
Yes, so long as all the relevant parts of the plans are completed, the fact that the plan is in black and white does not matter, and the content of the plan should still be taken into consideration.
No. If a person has said that they do not want CPR and they want that decision to be legally binding, they need to be supported to make an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment (ADRT) in a separate document, to which the ReSPECT plan can make reference.
If the ReSPECT plan records that they do not want CPR (and they have not made an ADRT), then that will be a strong indication that CPR would not be in their best interests, but it will not be legally binding on the person who has to decide whether to carry out CPR at the point when it might be needed.
Yes, an audit tool is now available. This can be accessed below:
