People seeking assisted dying should undergo an assessment with a palliative care specialist, experts have argued ahead of the official Lords debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on Friday 12 September.
At a roundtable event organised by The BMJ and hosted on 9 September by the Conservative politician and former health minister James Bethell and the Labour MP Simon Opher of the All Party Parliamentary Health Group, experts from across the NHS and social care, as well as peers, discussed the challenges posed by the current bill and amendments that could improve its implementation.
While some raised concerns over adding unnecessary layers of bureaucracy to the system, others argued the need for a specialist palliative care assessment as part of the process to ensure that patients can make an informed decision. Experts also discussed whether assisted dying should be considered …
