Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Lord Watts and Baroness Finlay of Llandaff

Committee stage
Friday 21st November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

Would the noble Baroness agree for one second that, even if someone has good hospice care and the best medications that they can, there are still patients who suffer and have pain before death, despite all the actions of the people who are trying to alleviate that?

[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (CB)]

I thank the noble Lord for the intervention. Perhaps it might be helpful for us to have a conversation outside this Chamber. But I would just say that pain is complex. It is not only physical; it has multiple components. Of the patients I have had the most difficulty looking after, we discovered that there were very many issues in the psychosocial and emotional domain: things that had happened in the past, some of which we did not know about at the time. But I do not want to go off message from these amendments, which are really important.

These amendments were put down in good faith to address the concerns expressed all around the Committee. I am disappointed that we have not got to the point of saying that we will all sit down together. I think that those of us who have drafted amendments will sit down together and discuss how we should bring something back on Report to manage the situation that we highlighted today, which is a very profound concern over coercion, abuse and all the other factors that go along with that. Apart from that, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.