Assisted Dying Bill

 

Some years ago, a friend of mine died because he had an inoperable brain tumour. He went into a local hospice and died shortly after. As an end-of-life patient receiving hospice care, he would almost certainly have been put on morphine and other pain killing medications.

I don't have a problem with this if it alleviates pain and suffering. However, we have seen cases where patients have been given opiates inappropriately by doctors. In May 2023, an independent panel found that 456 patients had died prematurely after being given opiates at Gosport War Memorial Hospital, when it wasn't medically necessary. The police are currently investigating this scandal.

Before he died my friend told me about his father who had been admitted to a hospital in Manchester. He said that he'd been told that his father was coming to the end of his life and was asked if he would agree to his father being out on end-of-life palliative care. He told me that he hadn't agreed to this and had insisted that the hospital do everything to keep his father alive. I asked him what was the outcome? He said his father left the hospital and had returned home with him and that he'd lived another three years.

Knowing when someone is about to die, isn't always an exact science. It's understandable that people have concerns about the implications of the Assisted Dying Bill that is currently being debated in Parliament.