Interim Policy Bulletin 716
Number: 716
In Effect: 2024-08-19
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Why was the policy changed?
The policy is being amended to ensure valid Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Orders or Advanced Directives are followed by health care professionals in the event of a hunger strike, in alignment with standards of practice for health care professionals and legal requirements.
What has changed?
This Interim Policy Bulletin (IPB) impacts paragraph 2 of GL 800 1 – Hunger Strike: Managing an Inmate’s Health, which states: “As prolonged engagement in a hunger strike may cause serious personal injury/harm and/or death, Do Not Resuscitate Orders and directions regarding care within Advance Directives do not apply. For any inmate who loses capacity to make a conscious choice, or becomes unconscious, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) staff will intervene to preserve life.”
This IPB directs that valid DNR/Advanced Directives will be respected by health care professionals in the context of a hunger strike.
Accordingly, all inmates, including those engaged in a hunger strike, are to be provided with access to the applicable provincial DNR/Advanced Directives forms, upon request, to enable them to indicate their wishes in the event they subsequently become incapacitated. An incapacitated inmate’s previously expressed wishes in this regard – as documented in a valid DNR/Advanced Directive – are to be respected by health care professionals.
How was it developed?
This IBP was developed by the Health Services Sector in consultation with the Strategic Policy Division.
Who will be affected by the policy?
Health care professionals involved in the management of inmates on a hunger strike.
Contact:
Strategic Policy Division
Policy-Politiques.GEN-NHQ@csc-scc.gc.ca
Commissioner,
Anne Kelly