Over 100 Yorkshire doctors, GPs, nurses and healthcare professionals warn assisted dying bill is threat to quality palliative care - Read full list of signatories

Our opinions vary on the principle of assisted dying, but we unanimously agree that this Bill would result in some people choosing an assisted death without guaranteed access to high-quality palliative care.

Dignity at the end of life is currently limited by wider pressures hospices and palliative care services face.

The Kirkwood Hospice in Huddersfield recently made 19 employees redundant, reducing the number of patients they can afford to care for from 2,100 to 1,300 annually.

The percentage funding from the Government for St Michael’s Hospice in North Yorkshire has dropped over the past five years from 35-40 per cent to 28 per cent, with service reductions being “highly likely”.

The financial situation at St Luke’s Hospice, Sheffield is “significantly challenging”.

Although no cuts to services are currently planned, only 23 per cent of funding is secured from the Government.

St Gemma’s Hospice in Leeds welcomed the recent one-off government funding boost but urged the Government to deliver sustainable funding.

Hull York Medical School took part in the Time to Care study, which found huge gaps in end-of-life care.

Annette Weatherley, Marie Curie chief nursing officer, said: “The findings are shocking. Too many people are dying in avoidable pain, struggling with breathlessness and other debilitating symptoms because of the difficulties they face accessing the end-of-life care they need.”

If the Terminally Ill Adults Bill passes, healthcare professionals will then be legally obliged to deliver fully-funded assisted death, without any reciprocal guarantee of adequate palliative care provision.

This vote should not be about an ideological position, with practicalities swept under the rug until a later date.

A change in the law would mean investment in assisted death, while palliative care services struggle for breath.

Our heartfelt thanks go to those Yorkshire MPs who have listened carefully to the concerns of their constituents, medical experts and Royal Colleges.

We call on all Yorkshire MPs to look around them at the current inequalities in their constituencies and think about how these can be repaired.

Voting No to this Bill in particular does not prevent any future debate.

Voting No gives the Government a crucial opportunity to fix the current underfunding of palliative care and to offer genuine choice at the end of life.

Full list of sigantories:

1. Dr Bhajneek K Grewal, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Bradford

2. Dr Phillipa Knaggs, Former General Practitioner, MA Bioethics/Medical Law, York

3. Professor Allan House, Emeritus Professor of Liaison Psychiatry, Leeds

4. Dr Paul Ashwood, Consultant in Palliative Medicine & Hospice Medical Director, Wakefield &

Pontefract

5. Dr Jamilla Hussain, Consultant in Palliative Medicine & Clinical Academic Fellow, Bradford

6. Professor Dan Stark, Professor of Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Research & Consultant, Medical Oncologist, Leeds

7. Dr Victoria Montgomery, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Wakefield

8. Dr Clare Rayment, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Bradford

9. Dr Sophie Maltas, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Bradford

10. Dr Rebecca Owen, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Bradford

11. Dr Lorna Fairbairn, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Leeds

12. Dr Sunitha Daniel, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, York

13. Dr Peter Westwood, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Calderdale

14. Dr Rosanna Hill, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Harrogate

15. Dr Charlotte Adams, Hospice Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Scarborough

16. Dr Emily Wilkinson, Hospice Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Leeds

17. Dr Rajinder Singh, Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine & General Practitioner, Leeds

18. Dr Emma Ryland, Consultant in Elderly Medicine, Wakefield

19. Dr Evelyn Tan, Consultant in Elderly Medicine, Bradford

20. Dr Anna Folwell, Consultant Geriatrician, Hull

21. Dr Rebecca Goody, Consultant in Clinical Oncology, Leeds

22. Dr Paul Hatfield, Consultant in Clinical Oncology, Leeds

23. Dr Sohail Mughal, Consultant in Medical Oncology, Bradford

24. Dr Karen Dyker, Consultant in Clinical Oncology, Leeds

25. Dr Joji Joseph, Consultant in Clinical Oncology, Leeds

26. Dr Brian Tay, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Bradford

27. Dr Michael Clarke, Consultant Paediatric Neurologist, York

28. Dr Richard Mayers, Consultant in Acute Medicine, Harrogate

29. Dr Julie Kyaw Tun, Consultant in Endocrinology & Diabetes, Leeds

30. Dr Jeff Clarke, Consultant Psychiatrist, York

31. Dr Brian Wilkinson, Consultant in Anaesthetics & Intensive Care Medicine, Bradford

32. Dr Edward Tam, Consultant Anaesthetist, Leeds

33. Dr Rachel Homer, Consultant in Anaesthetics, Leeds

34. Dr Alison Boland, Consultant Respiratory Physician, Leeds

35. Dr Charlotte Spencer, Retired Consultant Respiratory Physician, Halifax

36. Dr John Watson, Consultant Respiratory Physician, Leeds

37. Dr Tom Pettinger, Consultant in Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Bradford

38. Dr Amy Watson, General Practitioner, Hull

39. Dr Houghton, Retired GP Sheffield and medical author of Pregnancy and Abortion, a practical guide to making decisions. 2020

40. Dr Chris Bronsdon, General Practitioner, Sheffield

41. Dr Joseph Witney, General Practitioner, Hull

42. Dr Emad Al-Rikabi, Specialty Doctor in Palliative Medicine & Medical Examiner, Bradford

43. Dr Inderpreet Kaur, General Practitioner, Leeds

44. Dr Amarpreet Kaur Toor, General Practitioner & Hospice Clinician Bradford

45. Dr Susan Anderson, Retired General Practitioner, Sheffield

46. Dr Nathaniel Luke Hatton, Specialty Trainee in Oncology, Leeds

47. Dr Keith Howell, Specialist Doctor in Medical Oncology, Leeds

48. Dr Emily Montague, Specialty Trainee in Oncology, Leeds

49. Dr Charlotte Hewitt, Specialty Trainee in Oncology, Leeds

50. Dr Hannah Hilton, Specialty Trainee in Paediatrics, Bradford

51. Dr Daniel Roberts, Specialty Trainee in Paediatrics, West Yorkshire

52. Dr Emma Hooson, Specialty Trainee in Palliative Medicine, West Yorkshire

53. Dr Fiona Hargreaves, Specialty Trainee in Palliative Medicine, West Yorkshire

54. Dr Sarah Longwell, Specialty Trainee in Palliative Medicine, West Yorkshire

55. Dr Alice Copley, Specialty Trainee in Palliative Medicine, West Yorkshire

56. Dr Joseph Blewitt, Specialty Trainee in Palliative Medicine, West Yorkshire

57. Dr Tammy Oxley, Specialty Trainee in Palliative Medicine, West Yorkshire

58. Dr Sophie Thompson, Specialty Trainee in Palliative Medicine, West Yorkshire

59. Dr Emily Holdsworth, Specialty Trainee in Palliative Medicine, West Yorkshire

60. Dr Amarjodh Landa, General Practitioner & Specialty Trainee in Palliative Medicine, West Yorkshire

61. Dr Alex Sharp, Specialty Trainee in Palliative Medicine, West Yorkshire

62. Dr Laura Barrett, Specialty Trainee in Palliative Medicine, West Yorkshire

63. Dr Alice Pullinger, Specialty Trainee in Palliative Medicine, West Yorkshire

64. Dr Amber Garnish, Specialty Trainee in Palliative Medicine, West Yorkshire

65. Dr Melody Redman, Acting Consultant, Clinical Genetics, Leeds

66. Dr Esther Lawrence, IMT3 Doctor, South Yorkshire

67. Dr Caroline Docherty, Retired Hospice Clinician

68. Dr Alexander Scott, Clinical Research Fellow, Hull

69. Chloe Owens, Final year medical student, Hull York Medical School

70. Dr Rachel Hopkins, GP Specialty Trainee, Sheffield

71. Mr Obafemi Wuraola, Trainee Surgeon, Huddersfield

72. Ms Lydia Ricaforte, Registered Nurse, Leeds

73. Lydia Ganta, Registered Nurse, Leeds

74. Dr David Crick, Retired GP, Hull

75. Abbie Giglio, Medical student, Hull

76. Vivien Markham, Retired Mental Health Nurse & Lecturer, York

77. Dr Richard Thomas, Retired General Practitioner and Respiratory Physician

78. Dr Tamsin Nicholson, Clinical Advisor in Telemedicine, East Yorkshire

79. Dr Hannah Pearlman, General Practitioner, Sheffield

80. Dr Eloise Naylor, Foundation Year 2 Doctor, Sheffield

81. Ms Bridget Caterall, Retired Nurse in Critical & Specialist Care, East Yorkshire

82. Micah Mugge, Medical Student, Doncaster

83. Maureen Smart, Retired Social Worker, Leeds

84. Mr Mark Ainsworth, Mental Health Healthcare Assistant, Rotherham

85. Dr Mark Smith, Retired General Practitioner, Sheffield

86. Dr Linda Hird, Hospice Physician & Medical Examiner, Hull

87. Dr Christianne Amey, General Practice Specialty Trainee, Sheffield

88. Dr Mary Swanborough, General Practitioner, Leeds

89. Mrs Miriam Paterson, Registered Nurse, Richmondshire

90. Dr Alistair Robertson, Retired General Practitioner, East Yorkshire

91. Dr Amanda Harlow, Retired Specialist Doctor in Substance Misuse, Halifax

92. Dr Nick Field, Retired General Practitioner, Sheffield

93. Dr Charlie Hogg, Foundation Doctor, Bradford

94. Dr Caroline Lapworth, General Practitioner, East Riding

95. Dr Athea Ashley, Resident Doctor, Bradford

96. Dr Laura Wastall, Consultant Histopathologist, Leeds

97. Mrs Rosie Tam, Physiotherapist, Leeds

98. Dr Miriam Hodgson, General Practitioner, Leeds

99. Mr Gregory Knaggs, Pharmacist, York

100. Dr Harry Soar, Pain Management Consultant, York

101. Mrs Julie Cropper, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Leeds

102. Mrs Emma Walton, Pharmacist, East Riding