Lord Birt (CB)

No, I am sorry—I have an argument to put; I am not going to take any interruptions. Furthermore, one of Australia’s most senior and experienced practitioners tells me that, although in theory it must be a risk, she herself has never experienced a single example of coercion. On the contrary, she says, she has on occasions experienced the very opposite: loved ones understandably pressing someone who wants assisted dying not to embark on that course of action. Overwhelmingly, her experience is of applicants who know their own minds and are perfectly able to make a considered decision. From all my discussions, I have concluded firmly that if this Bill passes into law, it is vital that the processes are based on day-to-day realities, as well as risk, and work efficiently and sensitively for any individual of firm and settled mind coming forward in a state of deep distress. We need more flexibility in the timelines of the process than the present Bill allows and a fit-for-purpose organisational focus that delivers promptly and humanely for individuals in severe need. In our amendments, the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, and I propose three key measures. The first is to create a new organisation, the assisted dying help service, to enable the individual easily to navigate the complex process set out in this Bill, which in essence we retain. The second is to ensure that the assisted dying process is expeditious and, when conditions demand it, flexible. The third is that the commissioner acts solely as a regulator, with oversight but without any delivery responsibility. The process currently set out in the Bill involves a 10-stage process, with three separate medical consultations with three different doctors, a confirmatory panel and two periods of reflection, the first of seven days and the second of 14 days, the latter of which can be shortened. Absent a bespoke organisational focus, this process in a stressed NHS could take a wholly inappropriate and disproportionate period of time. Hence our proposal is that we adopt a notion present in many jurisdictions of a purpose-built organisation—an assisted dying help service—that would provide a personal navigator to take the dying person and their loved ones through the whole complex process, providing introductions, keeping to timelines and piloting the individual through their final challenging and traumatic journey. Our amendments also propose appropriate flexibility, at every stage, with safeguards for doctors to act with urgency if the individual’s condition demands it.