In the UK, the Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) is a widely used process, designed to facilitate shared decision-making between a clinician and a patient or, if the patient lacks capacity to participate in the conversation, a person close to the patient. A key outcome of the ReSPECT process is a set of recommendations, recorded on the patient-held ReSPECT form, that reflect the conversation. In an emergency, these recommendations are intended to inform clinical decision-making, and thereby enable the attending clinician-usually a general practitioner (GP) or paramedic-to act in the patient's best interests.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Patient experience data from social media offer patient-centered perspectives on disease, treatments, and health service delivery. Current guidelines typically rely on systematic reviews, while qualitative health studies are often seen as anecdotal and nongeneralizable. This study explores combining personal health experiences from multiple sources to create generalizable evidence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), decisions to terminate resuscitation or transport the patient to hospital are ethically fraught. However, little is known about paramedics' ethical concerns in these decision-making processes.
Objective: To develop an understanding of how paramedics experience ethical concerns in OHCA decision-making processes, and how this relates to the ethical concerns of patients' relatives.
Aim: Relatives of patients who have experienced an out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) experience confusion and distress during resuscitation. Clear information from ambulance clinicians and the opportunity to witness the resuscitation helps them navigate the chaotic scene. However, UK-based evidence concerning relatives' experiences of unsuccessful resuscitation attempts and interactions with ambulance clinicians is lacking.
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