Lord Ashcombe (Con)

My Lords, I wish to express my particular concern regarding Amendment 416. The question I must put to the noble and learned Lord is, why should an independent doctor tasked with providing a second opinion not have access to the notes of the first? Is the intention to prevent any influence on the second medical professional, even when the first has identified grounds for dissatisfaction and declined to proceed with the possibility of assisted death? We have already engaged in lengthy debates on the crucial matters of decision-making capacity and the risks of coercion. What if the first independent doctor had uncovered evidence of precisely such concerns? This situation inevitably calls to mind the troubling prospect that a patient, or indeed another party exerting influence upon that patient, might seek out a doctor willing to endorse the view of the co-ordinating physician. Surely the medical notes generated throughout the process are of fundamental importance to all involved in the medical profession, and it cannot be right that they should be withheld from any participant in the decision-making claim. I therefore earnestly ask the noble and learned Lord to give me his thoughts on this, as I do not really consider this to be a straight drafting issue.