Statement on the Health & Social Care Committee report on Assisted Dying/Assisted Suicide

This is a complex and emotive topic, with deeply held and well-articulated views on all sides of the debate. The Committee are to be congratulated on an important and thorough report, which will be a useful resource for all interested in engaging in the complexities of this issue.

Hospice UK recognises and respects all views on Assisted Dying/Assisted Suicide. We know that the opinions of those who work and volunteer in the UK’s hospice charities reflect the wide range of views that exist in society as a whole.

We are pleased that Hospice UK was asked to give evidence to the Committee. The tens of thousands of people who work and volunteer every day in the UK’s 200+ hospices likely see and think more closely about death and dying than any other constituency in the UK, and it will remain vital that these experiences and observations are carefully considered in the societal discussions. 

As the report clearly highlights there is and will continue to be a rising demand for palliative and end of life care in the UK, with our ageing population. By 2040 the numbers of people dying in the UK compared with today will have risen by an estimated 123,000.

We agree with the report’s finding that access to palliative and end of life services is currently patchy, uneven and inequitable across the regions and different communities of the UK.

We welcome that the report highlights the need for the Government to ensure that hospice and other palliative and end of life care services are strengthened and that this need applies across all four nations of the UK.

It also says that measures to guarantee better care should include more realistic and equal levels of NHS funding for hospice charities, who are currently struggling to maintain their essential services amidst rapidly rising costs. 

Hospice UK believes that universal appropriate and adequate palliative care for all must be the priority regardless of any decision on changing the law. Assisted dying/assisted suicide and funding for end of life care services are two separate issues and need to be treated as such.

As the report itself highlights access and measures to guarantee better care should include more realistic and equal levels of NHS funding for hospice charities, who are currently struggling to maintain their essential services amidst rapidly rising costs.

We further hope that as our society continues to grapple with these very complex issues that discussions will be held with compassion and respect for all viewpoints, mindful particularly of those forced to think most deeply about this this complex and emotive question by their own life circumstances.