More than 250 doctors, nurses and other health professionals in Wales have signed an open letter urging the Senedd to reject the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
Senedd members will be voting on a Legislative Consent Motion (LCM) on 20 January. An LCM is essentially a mechanism for the Senedd to consent - or not - to Westminster legislation that touches on devolved powers, for example, health and social care.
While Westminster would still have the power to overrule the Senedd, the political fall-out of a Welsh vote against the Bill could lead to more amendments relating to devolved areas of policy. The Bill has not become law and is currently being debated in the House of Lords in Westminster.
The open letter argues that the Bill, which would legalise medically assisted suicide for the terminally ill, creates “inadequate” oversight systems.
“There is no mechanism for independent scrutiny of the assisted dying service, for appeal against panel approval or redress for distressed family members”, the letter notes.
The signatories also cite their years of medical experience to point out that the Bill’s definition of terminal illness is medically unsound and “fails to recognise the risks from mistaken diagnosis or misinformation".
"Accurate prognostication is impossible," they say.
It was also noted that safeguards against coercion would likely fail as it is usually “covert and difficult to detect”.
The signatories particularly took issue with the underfunding of palliative care, pointing out that many suffering patients would effectively be presented with the choice of assisted suicide or poor palliative care.
Palliative care physician Dr Victoria Wheatley said, “Currently, people living in a quarter of Wales cannot access a hospice bed. This means they lack real choice. Funding a state-sponsored suicide service without first ensuring comprehensive palliative care is not the right approach for Wales.”
Dame Deirdre Hine, Wales’ former chief medical officer, warned that should the bill be passed, vulnerable groups like the homeless and the disabled could well be pressured into ending their own lives.
The open letter concludes by stating, “This Bill undermines devolved independence in healthcare and poses unacceptable risks to patient safety and equity. We urge Members of the Senedd to reject legislative consent for this deeply flawed Bill.”
