A petition with over 9,200 signatures has been delivered to Downing Street by campaigners fighting against the proposed legalisation of assisted suicide.
The petition was organised by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) and called on the government to reform funding for hospices that provide end-of-life care, rather than go down the route of state sanctioned suicide.
The petition states that the need for palliative care is expected to rise by a quarter in the next 25 years and that “the current model for funding hospices is not fit for purpose”.
As such the petition demands that “long-term reform of hospice funding” be a part of the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS.
Terry Graham, SPUC’s Northern Development Officer, said, “The UK is facing a palliative care crisis. A Marie Curie study, published last year, found that nearly half (49%) of bereaved respondents were unhappy with the end-of-life care that a family member received, and one in eight made an official complaint."
The petition was promoted by Dr Dominic Whitehouse, a palliative care expert. He spoke of the urgent need for more funding for end-of-life care.
“I am only too aware of the desperate situation of many hospices, where lack of funding means they are unable to deliver the level of care needed by the local community," he said.
“I want to give my dying patients the very best care available, so that they can have a peaceful and dignified death.”
Third Reading on the Bill that would see assisted suicide legalised is due to take place on 16 May.
The Bill passed Second Reading in November, however reports suggest that many MPs who voted in favour did so due to the safeguard of a High Court judge being required to approve an assisted suicide. This was watered down to a panel of experts at committee stage, apparently causing some MPs to reconsider their support for the bill.
