Doctors must raise other options in assisted dying talks under planned safeguards

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater tabled amendments to her bill to legalise assisted dying, which is undergoing scrutiny in Parliament after MPs backed changing the law last year

Doctors will be ordered to raise options like palliative care in discussions on assisted dying under changes proposed to a new law.

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater tabled amendments to her bill to legalise assisted dying, which is undergoing scrutiny in Parliament. Tougher safeguards include a requirement for doctors to set out all the options when speaking to patients, banning them from raising assisted dying in isolation.

Medics will also have to produce a detailed report for every applicant on mental capacity and coercion, with specialist training offered. Experts in both capacity and coercion as well as the Equality and Human Rights Commission, would have to be consulted before training and other regulations were put in place.

It comes after the committee heard evidence last week from experts including England’s chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty, as well as other medical and legal professionals. Dan Scorer, from the charity Mencap, warned MPs that the initial conversation with doctors could be a “dangerous moment” for people with a learning disability who are terminally ill.”

In a letter to MPs, Ms Leadbeater said: “It is extremely important to get the details of the legislation right, and enhance it where necessary, particularly with regard to safeguards, but we must also not lose sight of the fact that the current legal situation is unacceptable and deeply problematic, inflicting terrible injustices on terminally ill people and their families at their most vulnerable time.”

She added: “I am very conscious of the advice from the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Chris Whitty, in his evidence to the committee last week that we don’t want a system that creates a ‘bureaucratic thicket’ that would be too difficult for a person in the last six months of their life to navigate.

“We need to give terminally ill people choice, autonomy and dignity whilst ensuring the most rigorous safeguards are embedded in the legislation. With that in mind, I believe this bill provides an opportunity to develop the very best end of life care, conversations and choice with ‘gold standard’ training.”

MPs voted by 330 to 275 in favour of the bill in November, paving the way for one of the biggest societal changes since the legalisation of same-sex marriage. The legislation would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales with under six months to live to end their lives, subject to approval by two doctors and a High Court judge.

It remains highly controversial and must undergo lengthy scrutiny in the Commons and the Lords before it could become law. It will likely be at least another two years before an assisted dying service was in place.