It is universally agreed that patients with capacity should be able to make decisions about their treatment. Their decision is the one that matters if they have the ability to use and understand the relevant information and can communicate any decision they make. The doctor needs to explain possible options and their likely outcomes in as fair and balanced a manner as possible.
My daily reality, like that of just about everyone working in the NHS (and in other healthcare systems), involves doing the best I can within constrained resources. Palliative care provision and social services are not unique in being limited by the funding and staffing available. To say that patients should not be allowed to choose an assisted death until these reach some arbitrary standard defined as acceptable by Mr Ahmed or others begs many questions, and denies patients the ability to control their destiny now.
Kidney doctors such as me look after patients receiving artificial kidney (dialysis) treatment. This gives many years of good life to many, but when the burden of living has become too much, it is not uncommon for them to decide to stop their treatment. It is essential that safeguards are incorporated into any legislation that allows a patient to choose an assisted death, but we must work out how to craft these safeguards, not deny patients a choice.Dr John FirthCambridge Zubir Ahmed is right: palliative care needs investment and development before any further debate on assisted dying.
Fear of dying badly has increased as NHS services have been squeezed more than ever. Lauren Edwards’ bill would fund assisted dying from the NHS budget, further eroding other services. Specialist palliative care across the UK is patchy, and palliative care in generalist services varies widely.
When a doctor says “there’s nothing more that can be done”, few patients know to ask for a specialist opinion. Sadly, many clinicians are unaware of developments in specialist palliative care and what can be done to relieve distress. Without access to adequate symptom relief and competent psychological support, you won’t have a real choice when an assisted death is both offered and delivered by the very clinicians who could and should be working to improve your quality of life.
Research reveals that abuse of older people is common, but Edwards’ proposals will do nothing to detect abuse and coercion. The bill does not even require cases of assisted dying to be referred to a coroner; there will be no scrutiny of what really happened. In the last 15 years, 209 cases of assisted suicide have been referred to the director of public prosecutions; eight were prosecuted for homicide or other serious crime (almost 4%).
Extract — continue reading at the source.
