London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – A substantial proportion of NHS medical attendants in England and Wales are likely to exert a “conscience clause” if assisted dying is approved by parliament.
The assisted dying bill specifies that no doctor would be under any commitment to participate in assisted dying. The British Medical Association (BMA) has expressed doctors should be required to proactively “opt-in” to an assisted dying process, and have a right to refuse to carry out any actions directly related to assisted dying.
Are NHS doctors likely to support assisted dying law?
According to the Guardian, polls conducted by professional bodies have seen a mixed response. In 2023, the Royal College of Surgeons found that 53% of respondents to a survey were in acceptance of assisted death and 25% disliked it. In 2019, a Royal College of Physicians poll discovered 31% in favour and 43% opposed; and a Royal College of GPs survey the same year discovered 40% in favour and 47% opposed. A BMA survey in 2020 found 50% supported assisted dying, with 39% opposed.
Some NHS medical staff disagree with assisted dying because of religious views. According to a 2014 report, nearly seven of 10 NHS employees had a religious affiliation. An evaluated 10% of current NHS staff are Muslim.
What does the assisted dying bill mean for NHS doctors?
There are also healthcare experts who back assisted dying, sometimes because of seeing painful and distressing casualties. Six MPs who are also medics with a background in palliative care wrote to colleagues this month advising them to support a change in the law.
Sir John Temple, a surgeon and ex-president of the BMA said last year that a change in the law was long due. There was currently “an unsatisfactory and unsustainable condition where those who desire more end-of-life choice are in essence left by the system and forced to seek control in dangerous, unenviable ways”, he stated in written evidence.