Do you know what your patients think about assisted dying?
With the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association both surveying doctors about assisted dying, we explore the case for neutrality on assisted dying. Including:
- Overwhelming public support for law change.
- Medical opinion being equally divided.
- People with advanced or terminal illness think that organisations representing doctors should have either a neutral or supportive stance.
The only way a medical body can fairly represent this range of views is from a position of neutrality.
New data about what patient’s think
New figures released this month show that four in five people with an advanced or terminal illness think that organisations representing doctors should have either a neutral or supportive stance on assisted dying. In the YouGov survey, the same number also said that their trust in doctors would either stay the same or increase under a change in the law to allow assisted dying.
Polls of the general public have consistently found that an overwhelming majority would support a change in the law to allow terminally ill people choice and control over their death, whereas similar polls of doctors have shown a more divided response. There’s no consensus among doctors when it comes to the subject of assisted dying, because of that medical colleges like the RCGP a should adopt a neutral stance so that everyone’s views can be represented.
Healthcare Professionals For Assisted Dying
Healthcare Professionals For Assisted Dying (HPAD) is a free to join calling for greater choice and control to alleviate suffering at the end of life. HPAD believe that the medical professional bodies, such as the British Medical Association, should not oppose change which puts the wishes of individual patients first.