A Review of UK end-of-life policy and practice By Anthony Cole and John Duddington Blanket DNACPR (Do Not Attempt Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation) notices are reportedly being issued in UK hospitals and nursing and care homes. The practice has become more widespread during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights pointed out the increased use of the practice in a September 2020 report, which particularly criticised the issuance of DNACPR notices for persons with learning disabilities or other similar impairment, solely or primarily on that basis. 'It is discriminatory', the authors of the September JCHR Report wrote, 'to apply DNACPR notices in a blanket manner to groups on the basis of a particular type of impairment, such as a learning disability; or on the grounds of age alone'. The Care Quality Commission reported in December 2020 that they had been told of cases in the pandemic where people received DNACPR decisions 'which were not based on their wishes and needs, and without their knowledge and consent'. Meanwhile Bishop Richard Moth, on behalf of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, has expressed 'distress' at a January 2021 report by the charity Mencap that people with learning disabilities had been told they would not be resuscitated if they were taken ill with Covid-19. Crossing the Rubicon The recent document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Samaritanus Bonus, takes up these concerns: