The views of some elderly patients who have asked not to be resuscitated if they suffer a cardiac arrest in hospital are having their wishes ignored, according to a survey of hospitals in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Dr Mark Temple, acute medicine fellow at the Royal College of Physicians, told the Today programme that he "questions" whether the decisions were actually made by the patients themselves.

"Its not clear in the report why the patients were resuscitated," he told Jim Naughtie.

He explained that it is often very difficult with patients who are acutely ill to have a "valid discussion" about their wishes but in some cases there are patients who are "quite clear" that they do not want to be resuscitated.

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