On Friday, the social fabric of England and Wales might be changed forever.
MPs are set to vote on the assisted dying bill and supporters are confident that they have the numbers to win.
But the hugely controversial legislation polarises opinion. Communities remain divided, and medical colleagues can’t agree.
Three royal colleges have withdrawn support for the bill in its current form. They want more time to be given for further scrutiny of the legislation.
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Frank Sutton does not have time. When we went to Frank’s home in East Dulwich, London, last November to watch the vote unfold she already had terminal liver disease and cancer.
As the vote was passed with a majority of 55, Frank broke down in tears and said: “Finally, I can die in peace.”
Frank is unlikely to live long enough to see assisted dying introduced in England and Wales. If the legislation passes, it will be introduced in four years.
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Frank now suffers from diabetes and fibromyalgia.
She said: “On top of everything I’ve got, to start developing more comorbidities, I have a massive thought in my head, which I live with every day, which is, is my body, am I on the road to the end, you know, is my body just giving up?
“I mean, I was taking morphine anyway for pain, but now I’m living on morphine, and that’s not a life that you want.”
But even as MPs prepare to vote, many important questions remain over who will take responsibility for determining a patient’s mental capacity and their prognosis. The Royal College of Psychiatrists said it was approaching Friday “with trepidation”.
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Psychiatrists criticise bill
Palpable anger as both sides of debate gather
Dr Annabel Price, the RCPsych’s lead on assisted dying, told Sky News: “If this bill as it stands proceeds through the rest of the parliamentary process, we as psychiatrists are left in a situation where there are so many unknowns about what is expected of us, about what patients can expect and about the safety of the process.
“We will continue to engage and there may be opportunities for reconsideration at further points in the bill. But yes, I approach this professionally with trepidation.”
The Royal College of GPs says the assisted dying process should happen outside of general practice.
Dr Susi Caesar is in favour of the bill being passed and feels it is okay for the medical community to be so divided on the issue.
She said: “I think people have the right to make their own choices and absolutely I would not want to see anybody forced into being part of this process who didn’t. Our current system is broken and this law would go a long way towards fixing it, at least for a certain group of people.”
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But the Royal Colleges of Physicians (RCP) also has reservations about the bill in its current form.
It says it would be hard for a panel of experts who have no connection to a patient requesting an assisted death to determine if the person is being coerced or has mental capacity.
Dr John Dean, clinical vice president at the RCP has concerns, saying: “Currently decisions clearly are made by patients but agreed by single doctors and then the social worker and psychiatrists are not meeting the patient and those that have been caring for them.
“This has to be done in keeping with modern clinical practice which is complex decisions made with patients and families by teams.”
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But for patients like Frank, these concerns have not changed her mind.
She said: “I’m praying for Friday that it still goes through because, like I said, it’s not going to happen in my lifetime, but the thought that people like me who still try to look nice, who still tried to have a life and everything, that they can just have some peace of mind and they can have a weight lifted off their shoulders knowing that they’re going to be able to do it peacefully with their family.”
