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Mental Health Bill [HL]

In the rehab unit of a local hospital, which was also a place for very ill or dying patients, which I was visiting, I got to know a man who was very ill. One day I asked him if there was anything that I could bring him from home. His eyes lit up and he said, ““Yes, please, a bacon sandwich””. The next day I brought him one and the day after he told me that he had enjoyed it very much. Why should people be denied the little pleasures of life, especially in the last days of life? Why should they be starved and denied fluid? This did not even happen to Jesus Christ who was crucified on a cross. Denying food and drink to people who want it, as happened recently to a lady in the hospital in Norwich, is simply cruel and uncaring and piles on the concern of elderly patients and their relatives when they have to go into hospital. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Knight of Collingtree, for these humane amendments. We live in a very money-minded society. It is cheaper to kill than to keep alive. Surely, people should feel safe in hospital.