More than 150 doctors and other healthcare workers from across the North East of England have called on MPs to reject the new assisted suicide Bill at its Second Reading on 11 September, saying that it has “major shortcomings”.
The healthcare professionals, whose number includes GPs, palliative care consultants, and a former chair of one of the hospital trusts in the region, have signed an open letter urging MPs and the Government to reject the legislation.
The group argued that the Government should prioritise investing in “high-quality, equitable, palliative and end-of-life care”, rather than attempting to legalise assisted suicide by passing Lauren Edwards’ flawed assisted suicide Bill, which they say has “major shortcomings”.
The doctors urged MPs to listen to the many “practical concerns raised by many professional medical organisations and clinicians” about the assisted suicide Bill, which they argue would “further widen healthcare inequalities”.
Among the many medical organisations that have raised concerns about the Bill are the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Royal College of GPs, the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Pathologists, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and the Association for Palliative Medicine.
The signatories of the letter criticised the “lack of detail” in the assisted suicide Bill about the practicalities of such legislation, stating that they are concerned about whether the proposed safeguards could be implemented “within overstretched healthcare services”.
These concerns echo those of the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham. Responding to a question from Sam Coates, deputy political editor at Sky News, Burnham said, “I take the view that that debate – and I don’t say that there shouldn’t be a debate at some point about those issues – personally, I think there’s something that needs to happen first”.
“That is the fixing of the funding of palliative care and social care”.
“I think it is very challenging to introduce that wider debate in the context of people not receiving that care and having the peace of mind about that care. And that’s the way I kind of see this, and that’s the position I will stick to”.
They also raised concerns about the impact that assisted suicide may have on the relationship between doctors and patients – concerns which may undermine the founding principles of the NHS, which exists to save lives.
Professor Colin Rees, a leading gastroenterology expert who has led a number of pioneering clinical trials and who co-ordinated the open letter, said that the assisted suicide Bill was “not safe”, stating that it would “disproportionately affect the socially disadvantaged, women and minoritised groups”, as revealed by the Government’s new Equality Impact Assessment of the Bill.
He added that the concerns raised by medical professionals have not been listened to by supporters of the legislation.
Dr Mark Lee, a consultant palliative care physician who also co-ordinated the letter, said that due to the dire circumstances that palliative and end-of-life care services are currently facing in England and Wales, the idea that there would be real choice at the end of life if assisted suicide were to be legalised “is merely an illusion”.
Other groups of medical professionals have recently submitted similar letters to MPs
This group of medical professionals is not the only one to have recently called for MPs to reject the assisted suicide Bill when it comes to Second Reading on 11 September.
More than 140 doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in Yorkshire also recently called on MPs to reject the Bill, calling it “unsafe”.
In the open letter that they organised, they state, “Whatever individuals’ views on the principles of assisted dying, we are united in our analysis that this bill is not safe for patients”.
The healthcare professionals reveal that they are “deeply concerned” about the return of the assisted suicide Bill, referring to many of the concerns that have been raised about the proposals by medical professional organisations, including the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Physicians, and the British Geriatrics Society.
Referring to the current crisis in health and care services, the signatories state that the “NHS is fragile, under immense pressure, and palliative care access is inequitable and woefully inadequate”.
“Without national focus and funding reviews to bolster palliative care provision in each of these areas, we risk palliative care services becoming ever-more stretched”, they said.
The doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers explained how marginalised communities, including rural patients, people with dementia and people from minority backgrounds, “face pronounced inequities in access to palliative care, and therefore poorer outcome[s]”.
“At present, too many people do not [have access to high-quality compassionate care]. We are failing our society by denying them that care, and we would fail them again by offering an assisted death before ensuring that proper end-of-life care is available to all”, the signatories added.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said, “We are immensely grateful to all those medical professionals from across the North East and beyond who have spoken so passionately and knowledgeably about the many problems with the assisted suicide Bill”.
“This Bill is dangerous. As numerous professional organisations and disability rights charities have told us, its safeguards are inadequate, and yet its supporters seem determined to force it into law regardless”.
“MPs must take heed of these warnings and vote against the Bill at Second Reading on 11 September”.
