UK Court of Appeals to Hear Tracey Case on DNAR without Consent or Consultation

In February 2011, Janet Tracey was not consulted before a "do not resuscitate" DNR notice was placed on her medical records at Cambridge University Hospital.



Her family later brought a lawsuit.  But in December 2012, High Court Justice Davies held that the failure to inform or involve Janet had "minimal causative effect," as the notice was cancelled five days later when her family objected, and not acted upon.  The judge also found that a second notice, which followed three days afterwards and two days before Mrs Tracey's death, was put in place with the agreement of her family.



Justice Davies ruled that it would be neither "appropriate nor proportionate", in the light of those limited findings of fact, to have a judicial review hearing on the legal issues.  She refused permission to appeal.



But Tracey pursued the application directly with the Court of Appeal, to clarify whether there is a legal duty to inform patients with capacity whether a DNR has been placed on their notes and whether they have any right to be consulted about it.  



On Friday, the Court of Appeal agreed to hear the case.  And instead of remanding it, the Court of Appeal agreed to hear the case itself.