"The social message being sent here is that, essentially, assisted dying, removing yourself from the picture, is what the state wants"
Assisted dying will be seen as a “cheaper solution” than looking after the terminally ill, a group of palliative care doctors has warned. Twenty-four registrars wrote to Kim Leadbeater to express their strong opposition to the Bill on assisted dying.
On Wednesday, the Labour MP for Spen Valley will table a Private Member’s Bill to legalise the practice, with a free vote for MPs taking place on Nov 29 – the first since 2015. In their letter, the doctors query Ms Leadbeater’s priorities and say the Government should be focused on increasing funding for palliative care rather than assisted dying.
The doctors, who describe themselves as the “next generation of palliative consultants”, said they were “disappointed” that she is advocating for changing the law at a time “when the UK needs an urgent focus on expanding palliative care”.
They wrote: “Thousands of people dedicate their lives to walking beside people and their families facing death. Those dying need properly resourced care."
“Currently, hospices are funded predominantly by charitable donations; funding is dwindling and costs rising, consequently hospice beds are closing. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that assisted dying is financially a cheaper solution than providing holistic care to those who are dying. We palliative medicine registrars strongly oppose this Bill.”
The spokesman for the UK’s main association for palliative care clinicians told The Telegraph he was “surprised” that Ms Leadbeater had not yet consulted his organisation.
Dr Matthew Doré, the honorary secretary of the Association for Palliative Medicine, said he “strongly recommends” that the MP gets in contact because his organisation represents “the doctors within the BMA who are actually at the very sharp end and know these patients”.
The APM represents over 1,400 palliative care clinicians in the UK, of which only two to five per cent support legalising assisted suicide, and Dr Doré said: “I am surprised – we would expect for our views to be heard and considered.”
The Bill includes a proposed carve-out to allow for conscientious objection by doctors, but Dr Doré said it was insufficient because they will still be required to refer to medics willing to provide the service, adding: “It’s not a true conscientious objection.”
He warned that there “will be a societal cost” to giving people the right to die, comparing it to the right to bear arms in the US.
“In America, you have lethal weapons in the house, you have increased murder, increased violent suicide, increased accidental death. Introducing lethal medications into the house is going to have exactly those societal consequences,” he said.
Dr Doré pointed out that hospices are 37 per cent funded by the government sector, with the majority charitably funded.
He said: “Laws are more than rules – they send social messages. The social message being sent here is that, essentially, assisted dying, removing yourself from the picture, is what the state wants, and leaving palliative care to charity. The NHS is supposed to be ‘cradle to grave’, not ‘cradle to very old’.”
Ms Leadbeater said: “As I wrote in The Telegraph, ‘of course we should support our amazing hospices and ensure the highest standards of palliative care, but the reality is that won’t work for everyone’.
Assisted Dying Champion Kim Leadbeater MP
“I recounted the experience of people I have met recently who had been offered the very best that palliative care had to offer but who were unable to tolerate the medication available and had reluctantly come to the conclusion that they couldn’t take any more."
“I am still consulting widely on the precise content of my Bill. Far from rushing the process, I am taking my time to talk to as many interested parties as I can, and that will certainly include the Association of Palliative Medicine.”
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