Is Lisa MacMurdie (Letters, December 28) working under a misconception?

She may be interested to note, under English law (except in the case of children), relatives have no right to give or refuse consent for any medical treatment or resuscitation decisions on behalf of family members.

Patients themselves do, of course, have the right to be involved in the making of decisions about their treatment.

Furthermore, it is good practice to consult relatives in situations where the patient is not mentally competent to make a decision.

However, under those circumstances, the only valid question for the relatives is "what would the patient want?".

The preferences of relatives cannot (nor do I believe should they) form part of the decision-making process.

Part of Mrs MacMurdie's proposed campaign is misdirected. I would advise her and any other reader interested in this matter to read the guidance issued jointly by the Resuscitation Council of the UK, the Royal College of Nursing and the British Medical Association, which is freely available on the internet.

It is called "Decisions relating to cardiopulmonary resuscitation" and can be seen at bma.org.uk/public/ethics.nsf/webguidelinesvw

-G Bryant, Overhill Drive, Brighton