Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Lord Carlile of Berriew and Baroness Gerada

Committee stage
Friday 27th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Carlile of Berriew (CB)]

My answer to that is that they jolly well should be. I do not see at all that that is a point against the argument I am making. I would say exactly what I am saying in relation to any specialism. It is a very simple point: do I want someone knowledgeable to explain what palliative care is, or is not, available to me, or do I want it explained by a generalist, who may be extremely good, such as the noble Baroness, Lady Gerada, or rather less good? I used to be a lay member of the General Medical Council, and I have disciplined very large numbers of doctors as a result of that experience. Having this specialist care is an absolutely essential requirement of what we are discussing.

[Baroness Gerada (CB)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his “any old” comment; I am “any old” general practitioner. I will pick up a few issues. One is around the register being made publicly available. I absolutely would not want my name on a publicly available register as somebody providing the services of assisted dying—not because I would be ashamed but because of the hate mail that I would get and the distress that I would already have. That does not mean that I am against some form of register. Of course there can be a register, just as there is for doctors who do Section 12 approvals under the Mental Health Act, and for doctors who do all sorts of things, but to have a publicly available register goes one step too far.

The second issue is that we are—I am—already getting confused about the opt-in/opt-out; we saw that earlier. If this becomes law, all doctors must be trained in assisted dying, whatever that training involves; the royal colleges will determine that. Just as all doctors are trained in the termination of pregnancy, even though they may not deliver a termination of pregnancy—whether they opt out of delivering any services is up to them—all doctors must be competent in this area. I have been a GP for nearly 40 years and have worked with doctors who do not want to get engaged at all in the delivery or any aspect of the termination of pregnancy. Nevertheless, they are there to counsel their patients and direct them to a doctor who is available and willing.