Yorkshire doctors oppose assisted suicide bill

Over 135 healthcare professionals, including consultants, GPs, and nurses, have written a letter urging the government to stop Lauren Edwards’ reintroduction of the assisted suicide Bill.

In a letter shared with the Yorkshire Post, doctors, nurses, midwives, and healthcare students signal their opposition to the legislation due to come before the House of Commons on 11th September. They include senior doctors from hospitals in Leeds, Sheffield, and Bradford.

They write as healthcare professionals “who are deeply con­cerned about the plan to re-intro­duce the Ter­min­ally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Whatever indi­vidu­als’ views on the prin­ciples of assisted dying, we are united in our ana­lysis that this Bill is not safe for patients.”

The letter notes how an increasing number of medical bodies have raised serious concerns about the Bill, including the British Medical Association, The Royal College of Physicians, The Royal College of Psychiatrists, and the British Geriatrics Society. “These warn­ings from mul­tiple med­ical organ­isa­tions war­rant ser­i­ous atten­tion” they state.

They write: “Our 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.”

While Prime Minister Andy Burnham has spoken in support of assisted suicide in principle, he has also signed the need for hospices to be “prop­erly fun­ded and sor­ted out”. Burnham’s new Chief Whip, Anneliese Midgley, has said previously: “The Bill … doesn’t do enough to pro­tect vul­ner­able people, espe­cially those who are dis­abled or poor. Our NHS, social care, and judi­cial sys­tems are stretched thin. Until we fix these found­a­tions, we risk cre­at­ing a situ­ation where people feel they have no choice.”

The letter’s signatories urge MPs in Yorkshire to vote against the Bill and prioritise high quality compassionate care at the end of life. They write: “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.”

They conclude: “This Bill fails the most vul­ner­able in our soci­ety. Health­care should pro­tect the vul­ner­able. Soci­ety should pro­tect the vul­ner­able. Law should pro­tect the vul­ner­able.”