Left image – Wikimedia Commons: Official portrait of Kim Leadbeater MP crop 2, 2024
Over 250 GPs have signed a letter to The Times condemning their Royal College’s decision to adopt a neutral position on assisted suicide as “grossly misrepresentative of GPs’ attitudes to assisted dying”.
SPUC reported this week that the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has decided to take a neutral stance on assisted suicide, contrary to the opinion of most of its GP members.
A poll of GPs earlier this year found that only 13.6% of RCGP respondents favoured a shift to a neutral position on assisted suicide.
Meanwhile, 47.6% of GP respondents said that the RCGP should remain opposed to assisted suicide, and 33.7% said it should support it. 5.1% were undecided.
The poll is not binding, and over half of the RCGP governing council of around 75 members later voted to adopt a neutral position for the first time in the College’s history.
Responding to the decision, over 250 dismayed GPs added their names to a letter to The Times that read: “We believe assisted dying undermines public understanding of and access to palliative care, puts vulnerable populations at risk of self-coercion or abuse, and drives societal biases that devalue certain lives.
“We find assisted suicide incompatible with our values as doctors: to promote and preserve life, and to be worthy of our patients’ trust. We will not be involved in its provision and remain committed to easing suffering at the end of life through proactive, compassionate and holistic palliative care. We regret the RCGP’s stance and find it grossly misrepresentative of GPs’ attitudes to assisted dying.”
MP Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill for England and Wales is currently being scrutinised at Committee stage before being put to another MP vote, which will likely take place in late April. It proposes to legalise assisted suicide for terminally ill adults given six months to live.
Concerns remain about the role of GPs and their right to an opt-out. Last September, the RCGP insisted that, if assisted suicide is legalised, its members must have “a right to refuse to participate in the process”. It also stated that assisted suicide should “not [be] part of core general practice”, and “not have a negative impact on funding for palliative care services in any way”.
A motion voted on by the British Medical Association (BMA) earlier this month stated similarly that “assisted dying is not a health activity… and no consultant shall be expected to be involved in any part of the assisted dying process, including having no obligation to either suggest assisted dying to patients, nor refer patients for it”.
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