Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-seventh sitting)

Sean Woodcock Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 19th March 2025 Public Bill Committees

[Sarah Sackman]

I intend to be brief. New clause 24 and amendments 514 to 516 create stand-alone criminal offences relating to the falsification or destruction of documentation where a person acts with the intention of facilitating the provision of assistance to another person to end their own life under the Bill. That reflects the policy intent of my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley that those who falsify documents with the specific intent of facilitating another to end their life should be subject to a higher maximum penalty than those offences in clause 27.

Amendment 514 agreed to.

Amendments made: 515, in clause 27, page 16, line 31, leave out from beginning to “an” and insert “A person who commits”.

This amendment is consequential on amendment 514.

Amendment 516, in clause 27, page 16, line 36, at end insert—

“(6) Proceedings for an offence under this section may be instituted only by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.”—(Kim Leadbeater.)

This amendment provides that proceedings for an offence under this clause may be brought only by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Clause 27, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 28

Prescribing, dispensing, transporting etc of approved substances

[Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)]

I beg to move amendment 442, in clause 28, page 17, line 3, leave out “may” and insert “must”.

This amendment will make it an obligation for the Secretary of State to make regulations on the prescribing and dispensing of approved substances, their transportation, storage, handling and disposal and the associated records with this.

[The Chair]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 443, in clause 28, page 17, line 4, after “substances” insert

“as approved through the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and either the National Institute for Clinical Excellence or the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group processes”.

This amendment requires any regulations made about the prescribing and dispensing of approved substances to be on substances approved through the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and either the National Institute for Clinical Excellence or the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group processes.

Amendment 444, in clause 28, page 17, line 6, after “substances” insert

“including specifying that approved substances must at no time be left unsupervised by a medical practitioner”.

This amendment will ensure regulations about the storage and handling of approved substances specify that approved substances must at no time be left unsupervised.

Amendment 445, in clause 28, page 17, line 9, leave out “may” and insert “must”.

This amendment ensures that the regulations under subsection (1) include provision about enforcement including provision of imposing civil penalties.

Amendment 521, in clause 28, page 17, line 11, leave out subsection (3) and insert—

“(3) The Secretary of State may not make a statutory instrument containing (whether alone or with other provision) regulations under subsection (1) unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.”

Amendment 485, in clause 28, page 17, line 11, leave out “negative” and insert “affirmative”.

Clause stand part.

[Sean Woodcock]

It is a pleasure to have you in the Chair for the rest of our proceedings today, Mrs Harris. I rise to speak to amendment 443, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell), which would ensure that the drugs used for assisted death are approved by established regulatory bodies.

We know from evidence from other countries with assisted dying laws that the lethal drugs used can result in uncomfortable complications, even if in only a minority of cases. None of us would wish for that to be the case should this legislation be introduced. Unfortunately, the data on assisted dying recipients who suffer complications is nowhere near as thorough as we would like it to be, but it stills show us some important facts about what some people go through during the assisted dying process.

For example, the latest annual report on assisted dying from the state government of Western Australia states:

“No data on length of time to death, administration location or complications is collected by the Voluntary Assisted Dying Board regarding deaths occurring via self-administration of the voluntary assisted dying substance.”

The Western Australia authorities do gather data on the rate of complications among assisted dying recipients who receive practitioner assisted death, where a doctor administers the drug. They found that in 4.3% of those assisted deaths in 2023, the patient suffered complications, which included

“worsening of pain or discomfort…and regurgitation/vomiting…Complications reported as other included coughing and/or burning of the throat following assisted oral ingestion, hiccups with gastric reflux, involuntary muscular contractions, and delayed loss of consciousness. All patients with reported complications died after administration of the voluntary assisted dying substance.”

I understand that the Bill does not propose that a doctor would administer the substance themselves, but I do not think that means that the Western Australia data is irrelevant. Whatever drugs are administered under the Bill will likely be similar to, or the same as, those administered in Western Australia. If the Bill passes, some of the people who undergo assisted dying in England and Wales are likely to suffer the same kinds of complications. For that reason, we cannot allow drugs to be prescribed in order to end people’s lives without first undertaking the most rigorous tests. In particular, we need to investigate how likely they are to give the patient a prolonged death or to worsen the patient’s pain.

--- Later in debate ---

[Kim Leadbeater]

My hon. Friend is making some interesting points, but I think they are probably more relevant to the debate we had the other day on clause 18. Clause 28 is about the prescribing, dispensing and transporting of approved substances, rather than the substances themselves.

[Sean Woodcock]

I do not accept that they are not relevant to this clause, I am afraid, but I take on board my hon. Friend’s point. If I may finish my quote, the review continued:

“There is some difficulty in determining which coma inducing mixture has the most evidence, based on the lack of comparative data between each drug regime and different dose trials.”

In their evidence, the pharmacologists wrote:

“Monitoring of drug efficacy and safety should be compulsory in order to assure good clinical care and comply with regulations.”

I agree with that sentiment, and I hope that all hon. Members would too.

The right institutions to approve drugs before use and then monitor their safety during use are those that are named in amendment 443. All substances used for assisted dying must be approved through the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and either the National Institute for Clinical Excellence or the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group processes. There are significant risks if this rigorous process is not undertaken. The drugs used for assisted dying must be tested to ensure that they are safe and effective for use in assisted death.

[Kit Malthouse]

I am very sorry to intervene on the same point as the hon. Member for Spen Valley, but clause 28 is not about the formulation of the drugs or their approval; it is about the administration of the issuing of the drugs by a pharmacist or otherwise. I am sorry if I am misconstruing the hon. Gentleman, but I think he might be off on a bit of a tangent, on a debate that, as the hon. Lady said, we had earlier. As I say, this clause is about the bureaucratic process of the issuing the drugs, not about their formulation or approval.

[Sean Woodcock]

I would suggest—

[The Chair]

Order. Before the hon. Member continues, may I ask him if he will talk about the transporting of the drug and not the drug itself, and then we will stay in scope?

[Sean Woodcock]

Okay. I would suggest that part of the bureaucracy—

[The Chair]

Order. Mr Woodcock, it is not up to you to make those decisions. I would appreciate it—

[Sean Woodcock]

In response to the point that the right hon. Member for North West Hampshire made—

[The Chair]

Order. I am speaking, Mr Woodcock. I have given an instruction and it is your job to take it. Could we stick to the amendment?

[Sean Woodcock]

I understand. I have said what I need to say on the amendment. I believe that it is relevant. I take your advice, Mrs Harris, but I commend it to the Committee.

[Sojan Joseph (Ashford) (Lab)]

I rise to speak in support of these important amendments. The prescribing, dispensing and transporting of these medications is very important. In my experience, and as the Care Quality Commission reports, many healthcare settings have issues with the storage and disposal of medications. Amendment 442 is a straightforward one that would change “may” to “must”. I think it is right that the Secretary of State “must” by regulations make the provisions listed.

In oral evidence, we heard of one incident in Australia where the patient was given medication and did not take it but passed away, and then her partner took it and died. Amendment 444, which would provide that the substances must not be left unsupervised by a medical practitioner at any time, is very important. I urge the Committee to accept it, and amendment 445, which would also change a “may” to a “must”. These are straightforward but important amendments that seek to safeguard relatives, staff and the public. We must not leave these medications unattended at any time.