Contributions
308 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Fourteenth sitting)The way the doctor assists, if making a mental capacity assessment, is to try to tease out the four concepts. Does the patient understand what they are being asked to agree to?…26 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Fourteenth sitting)Yes, I totally accept that. The Mental Capacity Act is set so that we assume capacity and look for evidence of lack of capacity. The great danger with the amendment is that it…26 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Fifteenth sitting)I completely agree. Interestingly, I am on a journey here. To begin with, I thought these were good amendments. I thought that we must not introduce certain things—the doctor…26 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Fifteenth sitting)I would say that two doctors should be able to assess psychological health. That is their job; they would assess that at all times. I agree that it is a problem. The matter also…26 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Fifteenth sitting)I will be really brief because many of my points have been made. Amendments 278, 8 and 124 are about doctor-initiated discussion. One of the really good things about the Bill, for…26 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Fifteenth sitting)I would like to make a speech that answers some of these points, but I will intervene if that is more appropriate. What would the hon. Gentleman prefer?26 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Fifteenth sitting)That is actually not right. In a medical consultation, a doctor gives a number of different options. A small example is that I might suggest to someone that there is an option of…26 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Fifteenth sitting)Surely the hon. Member is describing exactly why we need the Bill. If they are given a diagnosis, at that point they can apply for assisted death. We know that there are statutory…26 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Fourteenth sitting)I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford for his sensitive and well presented amendment. I have a couple of things to say about it. My hon. Friend says that…26 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Fourteenth sitting)I agree that the threshold is the same: does the patient have capacity or not? That is the single threshold. We often do mental capacity assessments for inheritance, control of…26 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Fourteenth sitting)We are talking about a whole different area now, but I would say that, as a medical professional, if someone is gaining consent to a treatment it is in their code of practice…26 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I must admit that I rejoice in these stories—it is fantastic that these things can happen—but shall we just outline exactly how the Bill will work? If you are given a prognosis of…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)Sorry—will my hon. Friend not accept that this Bill will work in such a way that people may register for assisted dying, but only actually do it when their death is close?…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)Actually, there is a lot of debate about whether terminal states of eating disorders actually exist or not, so they cannot be said to be a real thing in that way. Some people in…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)There is nothing inevitable about a diabetic getting worse; they just need to take the right treatment, so I would say that “inevitable” is a key word. I respect what the hon.…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)Does my hon. Friend not believe that an eating disorder is reversible? Under the Bill’s provisions, if someone has a condition that can be reversed by treatment, they would not be…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I am not aware of that. I believe that this is always reversible until a person goes into the absolute terminal stage of multi-organ failure. Before that, we can reverse…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I would like to make a short comment. It is very important that the Committee does not get too hung up on anorexia, because the Bill is very clear about what is excluded.…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twelfth sitting)There is a lot to talk about in this group and I thank you, Mr Efford, for calling me to speak. I would also like some confirmation about the term “medical condition”, and I agree…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twelfth sitting)May I say that this is skewed statistics? There is no statistical evidence that suicide increases in jurisdictions that have assisted dying.25 Feb 2025