Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Lewis Atkinson Excerpts

Friday 20th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lewis Atkinson (Sunderland Central) (Lab)]

It strikes me that the judgment before us today is this: would permitting some terminally ill adults to choose an assisted death reduce suffering without inadvertently creating undue risks to others? I am clear, having worked in the NHS for 19 years, that the Bill absolutely can do that.

I know the lengths that the NHS and our hospice movement go to when providing care at the end of life—the beloved pet coming in for the last cuddle, or the compassionate conversation in the middle of the night that calms fears. Some have suggested that our health service could not safely introduce assisted dying for patients who are already in regular contact with the health service because, by definition, they are terminally ill. I know not just the professionalism of NHS staff; I have also seen the thoroughness with which other medico-legal routes—for example, Mental Health Act tribunals, which in many ways are analogous to the provisions of the Bill—are implemented. The NHS has shown over decades that it can safely implement social and legislative changes passed by this Parliament. The Abortion Act 1967 was implemented safely by the NHS, as was the regulation and provision of in vitro fertilisation under the Human Embryology and Fertilisation Act 1990.

The Bill has rightly been amended to allow up to four years for commencement to allow all the necessary preparations to take place. The chief medical officer reminded us that the NHS deals with life and death decisions every day. While the processes in the Bill are new, crucially they build on a solid foundation of existing practice. Currently, under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, as others have said, a person with a terminal illness receiving critical care can say, “Doctor, I want to die. Turn off this machine.” We use a simple test under the Act to permit that. Under this Bill, there are rightly further safeguards, but the decision when someone says, “Doctor, I want to die; give me something to drink” is essentially the same. This is absolutely not about the state killing people—these people are dying at the moment.

The CMO also gave us evidence, and he stressed that the secondary legislation powers are necessary to permit ongoing safe regulation. Those powers not only require the Secretary of State to ensure that codes of practice and regulation are in place; they also give him the opportunity to react post implementation should there be any concerning cases.

It is right that we are thorough in our roles as legislators. I have seen at first hand my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) sitting with officials from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Justice to ensure the workability and safety of these provisions. That is not the case for the status quo, with people dying lonely deaths of suicide or going to Dignitas. For those people, there are no checks on capacity or coercion; there is only trauma. I therefore commend the Bill to the House.