Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Peter Swallow Excerpts

Friday 16th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Kim Leadbeater]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention, and I agree that we must be respectful, but we must also be honest with each other.

Amendment (a) to new clause 10 was tabled by the hon. Member for Reigate (Rebecca Paul), who I thank for her work on the Bill Committee. I understand the thinking behind the amendment, but I worry about unintended consequences for patient care and protection. I have been advised that that is the case, and I think the Minister will speak to that. I think there is consensus across the House that, in the interests of patient safety, it is vital that there is clear and open communication, and sharing of information, between healthcare professionals in the assisted dying process. If an employer can stop their whole workforce participating in any sort of assisted dying services, it could prevent the sharing of information or the recording of information in a patient’s records. That could relate to safeguarding, and it could put patients at risk as a result of the employer’s decision. Terminally ill patients may be receiving different treatment at different places and from different healthcare professionals, and it would potentially be harmful if they were not able to transfer information or records.

There are also workability issues with amendment (a) to new clause 10. It is not clear how it would work with regard to the requirement in subsection (7) for professionals to provide information to an assessing doctor about a patient—someone whom they may have previously treated—or in relation to information about a specific condition that they may specialise in. That information would need to be provided in the interests of patient care. An employee will always be bound by their contract of employment, but flexibility is needed, as many health and care professionals work for multiple employers. It is not uncommon for clinical staff to have more than one employer—for example, a doctor may be employed by the NHS but also work for a hospice—so it is not a straightforward scenario. Just as it would be wrong for anyone to be compelled to be involved in the process, it would be wrong for anyone to be prevented from doing so, particularly if there was an impact on patient safety.

[Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)]

Before Second Reading, I held a public meeting where I heard a range of views from my constituents. One thing that kept coming up was the need to protect medical professionals from being compelled to take part in assisted dying. I am really pleased to see that being addressed in new clause 10, but does my hon. Friend agree that having the choice to take part must go both ways for medical professionals?

[Kim Leadbeater]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We keep coming back to the word “choice”. It is about choice for patients and terminally ill people, but it is also about choice for medical professionals and others.

Because of the unintended consequences, I cannot support amendment (a), but I am confident that new clause 10 and new schedule 1 provide robust protections for employees, regardless of their choices about participating in the provision of assisted dying services.