Assisted dying: 136 Yorkshire doctors and nurses sign letter urging MPs to vote down bill

The text, shared with The Yorkshire Post, says: “Whatever individuals’ views on the principles of assisted dying, we are united in our analysis that this bill is not safe for patients.”

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill allows patients with less than six months to live to seek an assisted death, subject to the approval of two doctors and an expert panel.

It was first brought forward in the last parliamentary session as a private members’ bill by Spen Valley MP Kim Leadbeater, however fell in the House of Lords after running out of time.

Peers faced accusations of filibustering – or delaying – the Bill after more than 1,200 amendments were put forward, with more than 800 of those tabled or sponsored by seven peers.

It has now been brought back by fellow Labour MP Lauren Edwards and will be debated again on September 11.

Ahead of the vote, 121 doctors, 15 nurses and midwives and seven healthcare students from Yorkshire have all signed a letter urging the region’s MPs to vote down the bill.

These include senior consultants, fellows and specialist registrars from hospitals in Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford.

They say they are “deeply concerned about the plan to re-introduce the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill” and flag concerns raised by a number of medical bodies, including the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Physicians and the British Geriatrics Society.

The letter says: “Our NHS is fragile, under immense pressure, and palliative care access is inequitable and woefully inadequate.

“Over half of deaths nationally are managed outside of acute hospitals.

“Within Yorkshire, palliative care is provided by acute hospitals, primary care services, care homes, community services and hospices.

“Without national focus and funding reviews to bolster palliative care provision in each of these areas, we risk palliative care services becoming ever-more stretched.”

The healthcare professionals made the point that rural patients, people with dementia and those from minority backgrounds “face pronounced inequities in access to palliative care, and therefore poorer outcome”.

They added: “We urge Yorkshire MPs to reject this inadequate Bill and instead focus on improving access and investment into palliative care and hospice care.

“Genuine choice at the end of life can only be possible if people have consistent access to high-quality compassionate care.

“At present, too many people do not. We are failing our society by denying them that care, and we would fail them again by offering an assisted death before ensuring that proper end-of-life care is available to all.”

The letter comes with a new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, just days into the job.

He has previously spoken about his support in principle for assisted dying, while caveating that this would require hospices to be “properly funded and sorted out” before any new law was implemented.

However, his Chief Whip, Anneliese Midgley, previously said: “The bill … doesn’t do enough to protect vulnerable people, especially those who are disabled or poor.

“Our NHS, social care, and judicial systems are stretched thin. Until we fix these foundations, we risk creating a situation where people feel they have no choice.”