Most of us who catch coronavirus (Covid-19) will have a minor illness and recover fully without any medical treatment. For those who do not have a straightforward experience, there are some key points along the treatment pathway where decisions may be needeed. These are hard to predict fully but the key ones are whether to:

1 – go to hospital for treatment

2 – be treated with a ventilator to support you breathing

3 – be treated with CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) if your heart stops beating (cardiac arrest). 

If you are able to discuss these decisions with us at or nearer the time, your preferences can form part of our decision making. However, if you are too unwell to tell us your preferences, we can still take them into account if you have told us in advance.

The nationally accepted way for us to do this is by using a ReSPECT form. ReSPECT stands for Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment. The form is filled in by us as your healthcare team. It  has a section that describes your preferences, where we know these. This form is shared with you, and we can share it amongst the teams caring for you, so you do not have to repeat the discussions unnecessarily.

More information about these issues can be found via the links below.

If you want to make you preferences known to us in respect of treatment options for coronavirus (Covid-19), download and complete the Coronavirus (Covid-19) Treatment Preference Form below, and return it to the surgery. We will then contact you to pick up the discussion and complete a ReSPECT form with you.

This can be a difficult topic to think about. We believe that it is good to hope for the best but also to prepare for the worst. If you are caused any distress by doing this, please contact us to talk about this. We also encourage you to talk it through with those who are close to you.