If you are a psychiatrist in the UK, you can add your name below the letter
We write with profound concern at the passage of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in the House of Commons.
It represents a seismic shift in the established role of the psychiatrist from the prevention of suicide to assisting suicide, undermining our ethical responsibilities and the trust placed in us by patients and society.
As psychiatrists, we have extensive experience in assessing and treating individuals who express a wish to die. We know that people with terminal illness are at heightened risk of depression, demoralisation and impaired decision-making. Their requests are often shaped by untreated symptoms, by pain and fear, or by social and financial pressures. The Bill makes no provision for these needs to be identified and addressed. Without such safeguards, assisted suicide cannot be regarded as an autonomous or informed choice.
We are also deeply concerned at the proposed statutory role of psychiatrists on every assisted dying review panel. This would compel psychiatrists to adjudicate prognosis in cancers, organ failure and neurological diseases. These areas are wholly outside our professional competence. The General Medical Council’s guidance is clear: doctors must not practise beyond their expertise.
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 was never designed to test capacity in the context of a decision to end one’s own life. Yet the Bill introduces no new framework for this most serious determination, and no effective safeguard against subtle coercion or undue influence. This leaves vulnerable patients exposed and unprotected.
Assisted suicide is not treatment. To embed it within the NHS risks confusing professional duties, eroding trust in the NHS, and presenting death as an option equal to care. That is not the role of medicine.
Instead of legislating for assisted suicide, Parliament should focus on reducing suffering by guaranteeing universal access to high-quality palliative, psychological and social care. Every patient, regardless of diagnosis, postcode or background, deserves equitable support to live without pain and with dignity at the end of life. This is how compassion and fairness are best upheld.
Yours sincerely,
If you are a psychiatrist in the UK, please sign our Letter to Politicians to oppose any move to assisted suicide.
Please note that this letter will be made available to the press. Your details are unlikely to appear in print but your name may appear on in online versions of the letter.