A Conservative MP has told the Commons he felt he had “failed” his patients, because he could not give them a “good death”.
“I failed because I did not give them the good death that they deserve despite the very best efforts of palliative care,” Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst said.
The former surgeon called for MPs to support those wanting the “ultimate choice” in their last days, as Parliament debated the assisted dying Bill.
On Friday, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill which would allow terminally ill adults with a life expectancy of less than six months to end their lives, passed at second reading.
The Solihull West and Shirley MP said: “I stand here as not only a medical practitioner, having worked as a surgeon for about a decade, but also as a healthcare barrister. So I have looked at this debate from both sides of the argument, and I have been deeply moved by some of the stories I have heard by patients who are facing a terminal illness.
“I’m also instructed by my own experiences, my personal experiences, of my relatives, but also those patients who I failed. I failed because I did not give them the good death that they deserve despite the very best efforts of palliative care.
“And it’s true that we can improve the palliative care offering in this country, but it is not a binary choice. It is not a choice of palliative care or assisted dying. It is a choice of having the option of how you want to have autonomy over your body at the end of your life.
“I understand the concerns in this House. I do, I genuinely do.
“But this is not the point to cancel the debate, this is the point to engage in the debate, this is the point that we move it forwards that people could contribute to that in the committee stage and say how this can be improved, and we can work together to make a societal change, to improve our society and to support those that want that ultimate choice in those last days.”
Conservative MP Dr Luke Evans (Hinckley and Bosworth) also spoke in support of the Bill, arguing “palliative care has limits”.
The former GP said: “The truth is, members, palliative care has limits and there are limits to palliative care.
“Consider the cases that keep doctors and surgeons awake at night, the likes of the inoperable neck cancer, eroding away, into the carotid artery, a literal bloody time bomb that no one knows when it will go off. And do you know what modern medicine’s answer to that is?
“Keep dark towels nearby for the blood, counsel a partner or family on what it’s like to find someone bleeding out. There is no cure, there’s no respite. What would you do?
“Currently for these patients we can offer no agency over their end, no alternative to this terrifying death. Can we truly say that’s compassionate?
“So I ask, should we not even offer those suffering at least the chance of dignity in their death?”
Dr Simon Opher, a GP and the Labour MP for Stroud, suggested assisted dying is a “tool” in palliative care.
He told the Commons: “I’ve had two patients go to Dignitas on their own, without family members, because the family members were fearful that they would be arrested on their return.
“And I’ve also – we’ve been discussing this: giving a double dose or morphine – and I think a lot of doctors, almost all doctors in terminal care have probably done this, doubled the dose of morphine knowing it might, you know, curtail the patient’s life. That’s a big fudge – that puts me in a very vulnerable position.”
He added: “I totally support what everyone’s saying about really developing palliative care is really important, but that does not go instead of assisted dying. The things go together: assisted dying is one of our tools in palliative care as I see it.”
Labour MP Dr Peter Prinsley, an ear, nose, and throat surgeon, also supported the Bill, stating: “I know the terrifying loss of dignity and control in the last days of life.
“I’m speaking here of people who are dying, not people living well with their chronic or terminal diseases.”
“This is not some slippery slope – we are shortening death, not life, for our patients. This is not life or death, this is death or death,” he added.
Not all those with a medical background were in support of the Bill, with Conservative MP Dr Ben Spencer warning it places “implicit pressure” on vulnerable people.
The consultant psychiatrist and MP for Runnymede and Weybridge said the Bill “does not protect” people who are vulnerable to coercion or struggling with the burden of caring responsibilities.”
“It risks placing implicit pressure on people already vulnerable at a time of life when they should be receiving our unwavering care and support. We should and must vote it down,” he added.
