At a time when we are repeatedly reminded of the financial crisis facing the NHS, every penny counts. That seems obvious.
It also seems obvious to me that if the whole point of health services is to keep people alive, why would much needed resources be used up to hasten patients’ deaths? The brutal truth is that’s precisely what the Assisted Dying Bill represents.
When the legislation was first tabled, it was claimed it would be cost neutral, because the expense of overseeing the legal process and administering the fatal drugs would be offset by the money saved from not keeping terminally-ill people alive.
But when training and GP time is taken into account, an updated financial analysis of the legislation reveals it will quickly cost over £300,000 a year, and that’s only if the number of assisted deaths does not exceed the current estimate of around 30 a year.
There is no extra budget for assisted deaths, so NHS resources which should be used to help the living will instead be diverted to accelerate the passing of people who chose to die.
Meanwhile, thanks to Labour’s sleekit rise in employers’ National Insurance contributions, hospices must cut back the vital palliative care services they provide, as well as support for relatives at the most difficult of times.
Who can possibly know how many sick people will opt for an early death once the law has been changed? It is, as several colleagues said in last week’s Scottish Parliament last week, writing a blank cheque for the wrong priorities.
