Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the impact of legalising assisted suicide on palliative care.

No assessment has been made of the impact of legalising assisted suicide on palliative care. The Government recognises that access to high-quality, personalised palliative and end of life care can make a significant difference to individuals and their families, at a sensitive time.

While the National Health Service has always been required to commission appropriate palliative and end of life care services to meet the reasonable needs of their population, as part of the Health and Care Act 2022, palliative care services were added to the list of services an integrated care board must commission, promoting a more consistent national approach and supporting commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care.