Speeches by Atkinson.

“Q Dr Richards, in the light of your research, could you say a little bit more about the weight that individuals dying place on the importance of autonomy and how that is weighed up against other considerations around safeguarding and so on? Dr Richards: There are two things that I would like to say about this. The firs…”

“Q I have a question for Dr Richards. I note from your biography that you have done work studying the phenomenon of old age rational suicide. I noted your comments before about research suggesting that people who seek assisted death have got particular, strong preferences for control and agency at the end of life. We kn…”

“Q Pat, if the Bill, as it is currently drafted, had been in place in your family’s situation, what difference would that have made to your family’s experience? Pat Malone: In all three cases, it would have improved their lives and their deaths. My father died at the age of 85 from pancreatic cancer. He asked me to help…”

“Q I have a question for Mr Malone. The Bill as drafted talks about the commencement period and how quickly it would commence in the UK if Parliament passed it. There have been some suggestions that we should delay the commencement in order for improvements to palliative care or other such things to be made. Could you s…”

“Q My question is for Dr Price as well, please. We heard in the week from the chief medical officer earlier, who said that he was “relieved” that this Act based capacity on the Mental Capacity Act, noting that it already provides that “the more serious the decision, the greater the level of capacity”––[Official Report, …”

“Q It is late, and I am far from being an expert on Welsh devolution, but I want to ask Professor Lewis a question, not least because we have not come to him for a little while. Although it is not my area, I absolutely note the concerns and the discussion about respecting the democratic will of the Senedd in these matte…”

“I suppose I am interested in your observations of the outcomes of citizens’ juries. I think we have all seen bits of polling, but that is not necessarily polling of individuals who have wrestled with these issues in a deliberative manner in the way that I understand citizens’ juries are designed to do. Dr Mullock: I wa…”

“Q Could I ask Dr Mullock another question? I was interested in what you said about your involvement with citizens’ juries, both here and elsewhere. As we as a Committee and Parliament are weighing up some of these issues, such as the points on autonomy and safeguards, where do you think the public settle on those when …”

“Q Widening my questions to Mr Robinson and Professor House, you talked a bit about capacity, and about coercion and the detection of it in life-or-death decisions, which clearly this would be. I am aware that there are those decisions every day in the NHS, around withdrawal of treatment and so on, but it strikes me tha…”

“Q Mr Amin, given your expertise in representing these cases in the court, can I ask you for your view around the Mental Capacity Act issue regarding eating disorders and other disorders? Obviously, we have heard one version of that. Given your experience of working with UK law to the highest level, what is your assessm…”

“Q I have a question for Baroness Falkner. I want particularly to probe the socioeconomic duty. What is your assessment of that as it relates to agency and control at the end of life? My constituents in Sunderland, unfortunately, are on average notably less well off than the rest of the UK. Is it not the case that at th…”

“Q To clarify, you asked to see them—that, presumably, would be good practice—but there is nothing in law that requires that on those decisions at the moment. Professor House: At the moment, no.”

“Q Dr Porter, we heard this morning from some colleagues from Australia, reflecting on assisted dying options five years after they was introduced there. I specifically asked them about the impact that had had on the palliative care sector and hospices. The Australian hospice body had done a review and said that there h…”

“In contrast to the requirements that would be in this Bill, which would require that assessment to be made. Professor House: You are introducing the idea that this Bill has more safeguards in it than routine NHS practice does, are you? I think that is the point.”

“No.”

“Q Can I be explicit on the palliative care point? We have heard concerns from some in palliative care provision that there is anxiety that if we introduce this in the UK, there is a risk of deterioration in or failure to improve palliative care. Can you address that directly in the light of your experience? Dr Mewett: …”

“Yes, I am asking whether that is the case. Professor House: I think the problem with this Bill is what assessment it expects to be made that does not cover the ground that I have been talking about. It just asks, “Is this person able to make decisions?” Essentially, that is what the assessment boils down to, and it doe…”

“Q I want to cover two areas. I will start with the current law. I am interested in the position that doctors are currently in, both regulatorily and around the current law. The Suicide Act 1961 and so on clearly prohibit this. A number of us have heard from families who have gone to Switzerland, and so on, and who have…”

“Sorry—I meant the provision of information for someone. Dr Green: The provision of information would be very useful, because in a situation where a doctor was unwilling to have an initial discussion with the patient, it would provide a way for the patient to get that information that was in no way obstructive.”

“Q I am going to try again. Some people advocate for a ban on this issue being discussed at all, which we have heard your answers on. A different version of that is a ban on any sense that doctors would recommend it as a course of action, in the way that an oncologist, say, might recommend a course of chemotherapy. Coul…”