Assisted dying campaigners in Nottinghamshire group backing new law

Nottinghamshire people who are members of an assisted dying campaign group say they believe a change in the law would be “the will of the people” as a crucial Parliamentary debate draws closer.

One local campaigner, a former hospital specialist, also said he is aware some healthcare professionals already aid patient deaths but leave their actions unrecorded to avoid the risk of prosecution.

Dignity in Dying is a UK-wide campaign advocating for mentally competent adults who are terminally ill to be able to choose when they die.

The movement believes anyone that has clinically been given six months or less to live should have the option to control the time of their death.

Parliament is due to hold a debate on an assisted dying bill for England and Wales, introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater. It is expected to be formally introduced on October 16.

MPs last debated assisted dying in 2015, when a previous bill was defeated by 300 votes to 118.

The issue has since been brought back to public attention by the TV personality Esther Rantzen, who has terminal lung cancer. The political landscape of the House of Commons has also changed significantly over the decade.

Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he is ‘pleased’ MPs will have a free vote on the issue.

The county’s local group was started in 2017 by Sherwood man Tim Bell following his own diagnosis of terminal cancer. He died the following year aged 70.

Current group member David Bogod previously worked in Nottingham hospitals as a Consultant Anaesthetist, and believes a potential law change will be welcomed by many.

He said: “In a recent poll, 79 per cent of Rushcliffe voted in favour- every constituency in Notts said the same thing.

“This is quite clearly the will of the people.”

A survey commissioned by the campaign group and conducted by Opinium polled more than 10,000 people nationwide.

It found 75 per cent of participants supported assisted dying.

Opponents of the change say an assisted dying law, however well intended, would alter society’s attitude towards the elderly and seriously ill.

The group Christian Action, Research and Education points to readiness of alternative treatments to combat pain, doctors having no right to lawfully kill someone and control issues.

Mr Bogod said: “We are not campaigning here for anything other than a very specific criteria- there has been no suggestion that in the other jurisdictions around the world that have this sort of criteria that there has been any shift in any of them.

“I’ve never understood why a competent person’s autonomy is removed from them in this way at the precise point when they need it most.”

David wants to “bring light” to a practice that is already happening behind closed doors.

He added: “I know that healthcare professionals do assist patients to die and it’s never recorded, specifically unrecorded because it would open them up, and relatives, to criminal prosecution.”

Hilary Hare Duke, joint lead campaigner for the regional group, believes a law change will give dying people more autonomy over their pain.

She said: “It often isn’t about pain, but it can be about pain- we might have good palliative care, admittedly a bit of a postcode lottery, even where there’s excellent palliative care it can’t always meet the needs of people.

“They are going to die in pain, they can’t meet everybody’s needs so pain is a very real issue for people and they won’t be able to get any relief in their dying days.”