Doctors urge Wales to reject UK's assisted dying bill

More than 250 doctors and senior health professionals have urged Welsh politicians to reject the assisted dying bill going through the UK Parliament.

In an open letter they wrote that end of life care in Wales "fails" many people because of a lack of palliative and hospice beds, but that the proposed law is not the answer to its problems.

They warned it would pose unacceptable risks to patient safety as well as undermine the country's control of its healthcare system.

Without the Senedd's consent for the law it is still possible there could be a legal right to seek an assisted death in Wales in future, but it would not be provided by the Welsh NHS.

Members of Wales' parliament were set to debate and vote on 20 January on whether to allow Westminster to continue to legislate on its behalf.

But on Wednesday it was confirmed it had been postponed until 27 January. BBC Wales was told that the request for a delay was made by a Senedd committee.

Although not a legally binding arrangement, the UK Parliament is not supposed to make law in devolved areas like health in Wales unless the Senedd has given its consent.

The Terminally Ill Adults Bill proposes giving those in England and Wales with less than six months left to live the right to end their own lives.

The open letter is signed by Dame Deirdre Hine, former chief medical officer for Wales, and several palliative care consultants.

In it, the medical professionals say: "The bill's definition of terminal illness fails to recognise the risks from mistaken diagnosis or misinformation. Accurate prognostica­tion is impossible."

They also warn of the potential for patients feeling pressured to seek an assisted death, writing that in their view: "Patients will be eligible to access lethal drugs if they feel a burden or because of a lack of services.

"Coercion is often covert and difficult to detect, particularly when undue influence comes from family or from a person with authority."

The letter concludes: "We urge the Senedd to decline legislative consent connected to this deeply flawed bill."

Dr Victoria Wheatley, a signatory to the letter, said: "The bill is currently being changed in Westminster, and we don't know what the bill would look like in the end.

"So, it's premature for the Senedd to agree that whatever comes out of Westminster is OK for Wales".

Dr Wheatley, a palliative care consultant, also added that the bill in its current state was "extremely unsafe for the population of Wales.

"Vulnerable people would be at great risk of having an assisted suicide when they shouldn't do, and the safeguards with that are completely inadequate" she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

The Welsh government say they "remain neutral on the issue" and the motion debate will ensure "the UK Parliament can meaningfully take account of the Senedd's position before the Bill reaches its final stages".

The vote on whether to give their consent to the new law is the first of two for Senedd members to consider.

It will be up to politicians in the next Senedd, after the election in May, to make regulations to decide how assisted dying would be provided on the Welsh NHS.

The Labour MP behind the proposed law has said she fears that people in Wales who want an assisted death would have to go to England or even Scotland if the Senedd rejects the new law.

Kim Leadbeater's legislation has been approved by MPs and is now going through the House of Lords before it can become law.

A minister has previously said the Welsh NHS will only help terminally ill people take their lives if the Welsh Parliament agreed to it first.

The Senedd rejected a motion in favour of the broad principle of assisted dying in October 2024.