My Lords, when a doctor, the very person entrusted to preserve life and relieve suffering, raises the possibility of assisted dying, it is no longer a neutral act. For some people, particularly

those who are depressed, isolated or overwhelmed, the mere introduction of the possibility of an assisted death risks...

My Lords, when a doctor, the very person entrusted to preserve life and relieve suffering, raises the possibility of assisted dying, it is no longer a neutral act. For some people, particularly

those who are depressed, isolated or overwhelmed, the mere introduction of the possibility of an assisted death risks...

My Lords, I fully endorse the amendments from my noble friend Lady Finlay, and I think they deserve rereading. There has been a

huge misunderstanding of what she actually described. This was not something drafted on the back of an envelope: it is based on years of work spent thinking...

My Lords, I fully endorse the amendments from my noble friend Lady Finlay, and I think they deserve rereading. There has been a

huge misunderstanding of what she actually described. This was not something drafted on the back of an envelope: it is based on years of work spent thinking...

My Lords, I added my name to Amendment 87, which details the exclusion of those with diagnosed eating disorders from accessing assisted dying, because I consider this a tricky area deserving of very careful debate. There are serious and specific risks that the Bill poses to people with anorexia nervosa...

My Lords, I added my name to Amendment 87, which details the exclusion of those with diagnosed eating disorders from accessing assisted dying, because I consider this a tricky area deserving of very careful debate. There are serious and specific risks that the Bill poses to people with anorexia nervosa...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow my noble friend, who has presented a different approach to assessing capacity. I was a member of the post-legislative scrutiny committee on the Mental Capacity Act. Both in my professional capacity as a learning disability psychiatrist and as a family carer, I...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow my noble friend, who has presented a different approach to assessing capacity. I was a member of the post-legislative scrutiny committee on the Mental Capacity Act. Both in my professional capacity as a learning disability psychiatrist and as a family carer, I...

A bespoke decision-making framework would initially be legally untested, but the same is true of the Mental Capacity Act, which, as my noble friend Lady Cass said, has never been operationalised or judicially tested in the context of assisted dying. The idea that the two doctors involved would be trained...

A bespoke decision-making framework would initially be legally untested, but the same is true of the Mental Capacity Act, which, as my noble friend Lady Cass said, has never been operationalised or judicially tested in the context of assisted dying. The idea that the two doctors involved would be trained...

Let me frame it as a question then. Does the noble and learned Lord agree that there are already bespoke decision-making frameworks and that this is not novel in UK law?

Let me frame it as a question then. Does the noble and learned Lord agree that there are already bespoke decision-making frameworks and that this is not novel in UK law?

My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 75, which I have added my name to. It addresses probably the most decisive yet hardest to confirm clinical issue, and is central to the Bill.

Prognosis is not determined by diagnosis alone. Throughout my career as a doctor, I have seen many patients...

My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 75, which I have added my name to. It addresses probably the most decisive yet hardest to confirm clinical issue, and is central to the Bill.

Prognosis is not determined by diagnosis alone. Throughout my career as a doctor, I have seen many patients...

My Lords, for the purposes of the point I am making, I am going to proceed on the assumption that was put forward by the sponsors that the drugs used for an assisted death are to be treated as a healthcare intervention, although I do not accept that this assumption...

My Lords, for the purposes of the point I am making, I am going to proceed on the assumption that was put forward by the sponsors that the drugs used for an assisted death are to be treated as a healthcare intervention, although I do not accept that this assumption...

My Lords, I support and have added my name to Amendment 771ZA, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Mackinlay, which would prevent the assisted dying service being part of the NHS. I agree with the points made by my noble friend Lord Stevens.

Integration into mainstream healthcare appears to...

My Lords, I support and have added my name to Amendment 771ZA, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Mackinlay, which would prevent the assisted dying service being part of the NHS. I agree with the points made by my noble friend Lord Stevens.

Integration into mainstream healthcare appears to...

My Lords, I have added my name to several of my noble friend’s amendments and I would like to congratulate him on finding a solution that could allow the Bill to meet one of the sponsors’ original aspirations. The impact of Amendments 25 and 120 are many. One that may...

My Lords, I have added my name to several of my noble friend’s amendments and I would like to congratulate him on finding a solution that could allow the Bill to meet one of the sponsors’ original aspirations. The impact of Amendments 25 and 120 are many. One that may...

My Lords, when I first read this Bill, I realised that there was something important missing—a first stage, if you like. This group of amendments is probably one of the most important to address before the Bill can really make progress. Ther Bill, in its drafting, has perhaps failed to...

My Lords, when I first read this Bill, I realised that there was something important missing—a first stage, if you like. This group of amendments is probably one of the most important to address before the Bill can really make progress. Ther Bill, in its drafting, has perhaps failed to...

My Lords, I have amendments in this group, and I have added my name to other amendments. I start by adding my support to Amendment 460, tabled by my noble friend Lady Finlay. Safeguarding measures are not optional; they are essential. To ensure that each individual requesting assisted dying is...

My Lords, I have amendments in this group, and I have added my name to other amendments. I start by adding my support to Amendment 460, tabled by my noble friend Lady Finlay. Safeguarding measures are not optional; they are essential. To ensure that each individual requesting assisted dying is...

I thank the noble Baroness. I thought about that, and it could indeed be brought back in a different way later in the debate, but I feel that the prevention of coercion is really important, so thinking about it at this stage is really helpful.

I thank the noble Baroness. I thought about that, and it could indeed be brought back in a different way later in the debate, but I feel that the prevention of coercion is really important, so thinking about it at this stage is really helpful.

There is no suggestion in anything that I have said of imposing palliative care—none at all. I have listened to the debate, and I was not going to speak personally but I will now, since the noble Lord has challenged me on that. My husband was dying with motor neurone...

There is no suggestion in anything that I have said of imposing palliative care—none at all. I have listened to the debate, and I was not going to speak personally but I will now, since the noble Lord has challenged me on that. My husband was dying with motor neurone...

My Lords, we are going to address palliative care in detail in a later group. We are going to make a distinction between palliative care of a general kind and specialist palliative care, and we are going to think about specialist palliative care at its best. Again, we hear day...

My Lords, we are going to address palliative care in detail in a later group. We are going to make a distinction between palliative care of a general kind and specialist palliative care, and we are going to think about specialist palliative care at its best. Again, we hear day...

Before the noble Baroness sits down, can I just ask which amendments she was speaking to, because this is Committee and not Second Reading? Every amendment that I have tabled is designed to make the Bill better and I feel quite concerned to be accused of time-wasting.

Before the noble Baroness sits down, can I just ask which amendments she was speaking to, because this is Committee and not Second Reading? Every amendment that I have tabled is designed to make the Bill better and I feel quite concerned to be accused of time-wasting.

My Lords, I am glad to be able to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Monckton. I declare my interests as a past president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and I have a parliamentary scholar, a psychiatry trainee who is appointed by the Royal College of Psychiatrists to work one...

My Lords, I am glad to be able to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Monckton. I declare my interests as a past president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and I have a parliamentary scholar, a psychiatry trainee who is appointed by the Royal College of Psychiatrists to work one...

My Lords, I want to add a correction for the noble Lord, Lord Winston. The Royal College of Psychiatrists voted on the principle and it was a 50:50 split. The issue of this Bill is different. The college has taken the view, after a great deal of consultation, that it...

My Lords, I want to add a correction for the noble Lord, Lord Winston. The Royal College of Psychiatrists voted on the principle and it was a 50:50 split. The issue of this Bill is different. The college has taken the view, after a great deal of consultation, that it...

My Lords, it has been an extraordinary two days. After last Friday’s debate, I went to a Beatles tribute band with my learning-disabled son, and we sang “All You Need Is Love”. Compassion is love, and it means journeying alongside someone, even at the end of life, as I did...

My Lords, it has been an extraordinary two days. After last Friday’s debate, I went to a Beatles tribute band with my learning-disabled son, and we sang “All You Need Is Love”. Compassion is love, and it means journeying alongside someone, even at the end of life, as I did...

My Lords, the Minister has rightly pointed to the growing need for excellent palliative care close to home, and I am glad of that, but I wonder whether she is aware of the Hospice UK report pointing to the number of redundancies occurring across the sector. In the context of the 2022 Act, which required the NHS to commission adequate NHS care, this seems to be rather urgent, not just to provide good care for people but to reduce the impact on the acute hospital sector of not providing palliative care.

My Lords, the Minister has rightly pointed to the growing need for excellent palliative care close to home, and I am glad of that, but I wonder whether she is aware of the Hospice UK report pointing to the number of redundancies occurring across the sector. In the context of the 2022 Act, which required the NHS to commission adequate NHS care, this seems to be rather urgent, not just to provide good care for people but to reduce the impact on the acute hospital sector of not providing palliative care.