GPs and psychiatrists express concern about proposed assisted suicide laws

Following a vote within the Scottish Parliament in favour of assisted suicide and ahead of an identical vote at Westminster, a lot of GPs, psychiatrists and campaigners have expressed deep concern concerning the plans.

The Scottish Parliament last night voted in favour of the final principles of a proposed bill to legalise assisted suicide.

An identical bill in Westminster will reach the report stage on 16 May, during which MPs will vote on amendments. A final vote on the bill could happen in June.

Concerns concerning the prospect of legalising assisted suicide have been raised not only by campaigners, but in addition health professionals.

Dr Lade Smith is President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and has over 30 years experience in the sector. Speaking to BBC Newsnight, she expressed deep concerns concerning the bill.

“We’re concerned that there isn’t a requirement to take into consideration any unmet needs an individual might need. So an individual with a terminal illness may perhaps be, they could be in pain, they’ve difficulty with their housing, their funds because they haven’t been in a position to work, they may feel lonely, isolated. As you mentioned, there’s no requirement to tell members of the family,” she said. 

Dr Smith also noted that the bill’s requirement that a psychiatrist give their prognosis for those considering assisted suicide doesn’t take into consideration the incontrovertible fact that there may be already a shortage of psychiatrists.

Research by the BBC also suggests that a plurality of GPs could also be against the proposals. Over 1,000 GPs responded to a BBC questionnaire on the present proposals, with around half saying they were against assisted suicide and calling the proposals, “cruel”, “appalling” and “highly dangerous”. Around 400 were in favour of adjusting the law.

Following the Scottish vote, campaign group Right to Life said, “Although the bill has passed Stage One, the vote was far closer than supporters predicted, and the bill still has a protracted method to go.”

The statement added, “Serious concerns remain about how this laws would operate in practice, and the strong response from MSPs across all parties shows these issues won’t simply disappear.”