ReSPECT is a process that creates and records personalised recommendations for a person’s clinical care at a future time, when they may be unable to make or express choices. It provides health care professionals caring for these people with a summary of recommendations to help them to make immediate decisions about a person’s care and treatment.
ReSPECT is a plan created through conversations between the person and their clinicians. It is recorded in brief on a ReSPECT form and includes their personal priorities for care, agreed clinical recommendations about care and treatment that could help achieve the outcome that they would want, that would not help, or that they would not want.
The ReSPECT process helps to reduce unnecessary or unwanted interventions for the person and can be complementary to wider advance care planning. In the future, this information will be shared electronically within and between organisations.
The conversations taking place as part of the ReSPECT process are already happening, but they are currently recorded in many different places. ReSPECT formalises recording in one place, which is easily identifiable by professionals in an emergency situation.
For more information, visit http://www.respectprocess.org.uk/ or email ReSPECT@hhft.nhs.uk.
