Assisted dying amendment requires doctors to raise all other options first

Kim Leadbeater said England’s chief medical officer had emphasised that any system should not create a ‘bureaucratic thicket’ for terminally ill people. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Doctors in England and Wales will not be permitted to raise assisted dying with patients without first explaining palliative care and other support options, Kim Leadbeater has said, tabling a series of new amendments to her bill before detailed scrutiny of it begins next week.

A committee of MPs will begin line-by-line examination of the terminally ill adults bill next week, including a number of amendments added by Leadbeater, some on government advice. A number of concerns about the bill were put forward by expert witnesses at hearings last week, including about protection from coercion and measuring mental capacity.