Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) chair Ms Helen Fernandes has called for ‘proper and open engagement’ over assisted dying.
Ms Fernandes said those who will be involved in the process, such as doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals, and their associations and organisations, have to be consulted.
She said: “Like many organisations we recognise there are diverse views on this issue and take a neutral stance.
Assisted dying
“Assisted dying will be such a fundamental change in what doctors and health professionals are trained and promise to do that they must be involved in a proper and open engagement on what the law looks like.
“It is such a change from everything we’re taught as a doctor in terms of medical care, which is to keep people alive.
“To switch that around and how that works on a day-to-day basis is going to be phenomenally difficult to sort out.
“This will come through the National Health Service and suddenly it’s becoming the National Death Service.
Root and branch change
“That’s a root and branch change which has to be considered very carefully and include the voices of everyone involved in the process.
“There is also likely to be a significant financial element.
“All of the training, protocols, and processes that are put into place will be quite costly and time-consuming and take up a lot of staff time.
“There’ll be many hours of time spent on that which could well detract from time looking after those that want to live.
“I have concerns about what happens to NHS staff who have religious or moral objections to assisted dying and the protections they will be offered from prosecution.
Postcode lottery
“And there is a lot of concern about the perilous financial situation hospices find themselves in with limited funding and no protection from the employer National Insurance increases.
“Community and hospice palliative care is not equally available throughout the UK, and we need a proper funding strategy to end the postcode lottery around end of life care.”
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