Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Deferred
Paragraph: 40
Issue revised guidance for doctors on providing medical reports for assisted dying abroad.
Conclusion
We also heard about the documentation which has had to be secured as part of the application, including a medical report for the person applying. We note that the General Medical Council’s guidance for Investigation Committees assessing a doctor’s fitness to practice following an allegation of a doctor’s encouragement or assistance in suicide, sets out that that providing access to a patient’s records where the request is made in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, should be considered lawful or too distant from being considered encouragement or assistance. However, the BMA’s guidance recommend that doctors should not write medical reports specifically to facilitate assisted suicide abroad. Although it is not illegal to provide medical reports in this circumstance, it does not seem to be entirely clear to doctors what they are allowed to do. We would welcome revised guidance from the GMC and the BMA enabling doctors to assist their patients.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government states it does not plan to establish a national strategy for death literacy and outlines existing palliative and end-of-life care strategies and training, but does not address the recommendation for revised guidance from the GMC and BMA on doctors assisting with medical reports for assisted suicide abroad.
Paragraph Reference:
40
Government Response
The government responded to this report on 9 May 2024. No passage in that response could be matched to this conclusion. Read the response document ↗