Provision of Hydration and Nutrition for the Terminally Ill

Thérèse Coffey Excerpts

Wednesday 14th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to guarantee the right to provision of hydration and nutrition for terminally ill people; and for connected purposes.

Water is the essence of life; we all know that without it we die. That is one reason why I support the charity Water Aid, for which I did a sponsored walk last Saturday.

Another topic that will come up for discussion in Parliament soon is the Hillsborough disaster. One of the tragic cases that arose from that disaster was that of Tony Bland. To remind hon. Members, Tony Bland ended up in a permanent vegetative state and was kept alive for some years. However, Airedale NHS Trust applied, in effect, to end his life by withdrawing ventilation, nutrition and hydration. The Official Solicitor appealed against that application and was concerned that it would amount to effective murder. The case law subsequently established by Sir Stephen Brown in that judgment classified the provision of nutrition and hydration as medical treatment. After nine days without receiving nutrition or hydration, Tony Bland died on 3 March 1993.

Further judgments have been made on those principles and guidance has reinforced them. Concern has been expressed that such decisions could be applied not only to people in a permanent vegetative state, but to those with a declining illness. That has led to many differing views in this House. I do not want to get into the detail of the Liverpool care pathway, and the intention of this Bill is not to prevent or frustrate but to open up the discussion on this matter. It is an important topic that Members should want to discuss.

This is a difficult topic to discuss. I hope that people do not face it in their lives, but when it comes to the death of an elderly parent or relative, we need to face it with a conscious mind. I expect that taking the decision to remove nutrition and hydration is not easy for doctors, and I am not trying to remove any kind of medical judgment. For the avoidance of doubt, the Bill is not a Trojan horse to bring in euthanasia or assisted suicide, or to start force-feeding people. However, we have to recognise that death comes to us all and we have to face the discussion about whether we should prolong therapy or withhold it. There are other discussions to be had about whether therapy is futile. I hope the House will agree that withholding water or food from somebody and, in effect, ending their life in a potentially painful and distressing way, sometimes without relatives even knowing that that decision has been made, is wrong. One aim of palliative care is to help people to die as peacefully and painlessly as possible.

I do not intend to speak for long on this Bill, but I hope that Members will recognise that this is an important discussion to have and that they would not wish any of their relatives or friends to die of starvation or thirst, and so will support the Bill today. I commend the Bill to the House.