Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to this very important debate. As usual, I will limit my comments to amendments on which the Government have major legal, technical or operational workability concerns. To begin, key concepts in Amendment 149, moved by the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, are unclear. It will therefore be difficult to assess whether the duties have been discharged. For example, it is not clear who must co-ordinate and undertake the suggested multiagency assessment of support needs and who is responsible for ensuring that those needs are fully funded, so it may be impossible to demonstrate that these criteria have been met. Amendment 152, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Moylan, seeks to prohibit registered medical practitioners or any other health professionals from raising the subject of provision of assistance under the Bill. If passed, this would be inconsistent with the discretion currently afforded to the registered medical practitioner in Clause 5(2), which makes it clear that a registered medical practitioner may exercise “their professional judgement to decide if, and when, it is appropriate to discuss the matter”. This amendment would therefore create conflicting duties and may lead to confusion about whether a registered medical practitioner can raise the issue of assisted dying.