Child and Young Person’s Advance Care Plan (CYPACP)

We are delighted to introduce the new version of the Child and Young Person’s Advance Care Plan (CYPACP) Version 5.  We hope it is accessible and will support meaningful conversations with families.

The CYPACP is a document designed to capture advance care planning discussions between professionals, patients and their families.  It aims to aid these discussions giving prompt of important issues to consider and also to give space and structure to enable documentation of these.

Considerable work has gone into this new version to make it suitable for all babies, infants, children and young people.  It has been the culmination of input, collaboration and commitment from many stakeholders, drawing on a perspective of professionals and families.

Specifically, there are versions (with and without ReSPECT) for ante-natal use and those for all other ages (including young adults).  The ante-natal version can be amended to continue after the birthing period, eliminating the need to introduce another document to the family.

Our vision is to have a truly national document recognising the benefit of standardisation across the whole of the UK for both our patients and our professional colleagues.

Our website will continue to build and will be a central resource of information in advance care planning for babies, children and young people.

Ross Smith, Consultant in Paediatric Palliative Medicine, Martin House Children’s Hospice and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust     

Helen Bennett, Director of Care, Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service   

Co-Leads of the CYPACP Collaborative