Peter and Christine Scott have been married for 46 years. Mr Scott, 86, served in the RAF, while his wife, 80, was a nurse – she now has early-stage vascular dementia.
Following the diagnosis, the couple informed family members that they registered for the Sarco Pod, an invention of the infamous Dr Philip Nitschke, known as “Dr Death”. Among the reasons they cited for suicide were inadequate care and expensive care homes.
The Sarco Pod is designed to kill its occupants by starving them of oxygen. While Dr Nitschke is seeking its first use in Switzerland, he’s advocated his invention elsewhere. He recently wrote to Liam McArthur, the MSP seeking to legalise assisted suicide in Scotland, urging him to introduce the Sarco Pod.
The Scotts now hope to use an updated Pod designed for two people at once. “Look at the alternative”, Mr Scott told the Daily Mail. “The chances of getting prompt NHS treatment for the ailments of old age seem pretty remote so you end up trapped by infirmity and pain.
“I don’t want to go into care, to be lying in bed dribbling and incontinent – I don’t call that a life.
“Finally, the Government swoops in to take your savings and your house to pay for it all.”
“Crisis” In Palliative Care
This month, the Health Secretary warned that patients might be “coerced” into assisted suicide because of a lack of adequate palliative care. “I am not sure as a country we have the right end-of-life care available to enable a real choice on assisted dying”, he said.
A Marie Curie confirmed this negative perception of care in the UK. Almost half (49%) of bereaved respondents were unhappy with the end-of-life care that a family member received, and one in eight made an official complaint, pointing to a “crisis” in palliative care.
An “profound threat” for England and Wales, proposed by Lord Falconer, is being considered by the House of Lords. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also promise of a free vote on assisted suicide on assisted suicide.
Meanwhile, McArthur’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill is at Stage 1. In August, the Law Society of Scotland, which represents over 13,000 Scottish solicitors, slammed the draft bill as “not fit for purpose”.
Government Must Act Now
Daniel Frampton, SPUC’s Editorial Office, said: “A care crisis is threatening the safety and well-being of vulnerable British citizens who feel increasingly neglected and even forgotten by the state.
“At a time when even the Health Secretary admits that the provision of effective palliative care is so inadequate that an assisted suicide law might push patients into early graves, it would be an act of extraordinary negligence to move forward with such legislation in the UK.
“Rather than treating death as the solution to poor health and infirmity, the Government should improve end-of-life care as a matter of national priority. It’s unacceptable that men and women like the Scotts who have served their country think they have to ‘choose’ suicide, which is ultimately no choice at all.”
