GPs may be prepared to support terminally ill people in Britain who wish to end their lives if proposed assisted dying legislation becomes law, according to a Government “death dossier”.
Under the plans, family doctors in England and Wales could be offered a 90-minute e-learning module, followed by a one-hour interactive online session focused on assisted dying.
While the material is presented as “general awareness” training, documents seen by the Daily Mail also set out a possible model in which GPs attend a full day of face-to-face instruction, giving them a more detailed understanding of how an assisted dying service might work.
Doctors who choose to take on the more senior position of coordinating doctor would be expected to complete additional advanced training.
The papers outline what that responsibility could include, from explaining how the prescribed drugs would cause death to collecting the medication from a pharmacist and handing it directly to the patient.
They also suggest the doctor could prepare the substance and assist the patient in ingesting it, though the final act of taking the medication would legally have to be carried out by the patient themselves.
Afterwards, the doctor would be required to stay with the patient until death occurred, or until it was clear the procedure had not worked.
However, it is understood that the proposals remain provisional and could still be revised.
The controversial assisted dying bill, which would allow some terminally ill adults with fewer than six months to live to willingly choose to die, will be debated again in Parliament next Friday.
Family doctors may be trained to help Britons end their life if the Assisted Dying Bill is passed, a Government dossier reveals
It passed through the House of Commons last year before stalling in the House of Lords after opponents tabled more than 1,000 amendments.
MPs will vote again on the new proposals and, if passed, the Bill will return to the Lords.
If ultimately approved, it will become law.
Campaigners opposed to assisted dying have branded the proposed training inadequate for doctors dealing with such complex, life-and-death decisions.
The new document, published by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), also sets out how hospital doctors specialising in cancer, neurology, elderly medicine and palliative care could receive more intensive, in-person training.
It comes after England’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, warned last year that doctors who take part in the later stages of assisted dying would require specific training.
‘I think it is much more likely that a very large number of doctors and nurses may get involved in the very earliest stages,’ he said. ‘Someone may raise an issue with their GP, with their nurse, with their consultant.
‘When it comes to the more detailed later stages, that, in my view, will require some specific training.’
Sir Chris added that there would likely be a ‘gradation’ of doctors – from those willing to have an initial conversation about assisted dying to a minority prepared to ‘take part in the final stages’.
The new dossier says healthcare professionals who do not wish to participate in assisted dying could opt out of the training.
The Bill would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales to seek an assisted death if approved by two doctors and a multidisciplinary panel consisting of a senior lawyer, psychiatrist and social worker.
Dr Gillian Wright, from Our Duty of Care, a network of UK healthcare workers who oppose the Bill, told the Daily Mail: ‘This assisted dying bill is still not safe.
‘We do not know enough about the training that would be required for doctors taking part.
‘A short e-training module would not be enough to enable doctors to detect coercion or undue influence.’
She fears vulnerable patients could be pressured into choosing assisted dying and that doctors may lack the training or experience needed to recognise it.
‘There is significant concern that patients will not have their unmet mental health care needs assessed by an expert,’ she said.
‘Depression, loneliness and anxiety are common for those with a terminal illness. Too many people do not get the psychological support and end of life care they need.
‘We urge MPs to invest in these services and help people to live rather than take their own lives.’
A DHSC spokesman said: ‘It will be for Parliament to decide whether the bill on assisted dying is passed.
‘We remain firmly committed to ensuring that everyone receives high quality, compassionate care through to the end of their life.’
