Spen Valley MP Kim Leadbeater thanks committee members for ‘detailed and thorough’ examination of Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

In a letter to all MPs she said: “The first two days of line-by-line scrutiny of the bill have been very productive and the committee has dealt with some of the key issues at the heart of the bill.

“The debate has been robust and passionate. It’s impossible to summarise some ten hours of debate in a few words, but we discussed at length the crucial issues of mental capacity and coercion, and the need to have the most effective safeguards without making the process so complex and burdensome that a person approaching the end of their life would find it too daunting.

“I am very pleased that our discussions in committee have been not only detailed and thorough, but also respectful and collegiate.

“It is our task to ensure the best possible piece of legislation is put before the House for consideration at Report Stage - and that is what we’re doing.”

Kim drew MPs attention to the amendments that have been tabled to set up a Voluntary Assisted Dying Commission led by a High Court judge or senior retired judge.

The amendments would mean that a multi-disciplinary panel, including a psychiatrist and a social worker, would need to approve any application for an assisted death. The panel can be chaired by a serving High Court Judge

The panel would have the power to investigate any issues of concern. They would have to hear from one or both of the assessing doctors, but could also call from clinical specialists or the person applying. Decisions of the panel could be referred to the High Court for a judicial review.

Kim said: “At second reading I promised that the bill would receive detailed and lengthy scrutiny, and I took the unprecedented step of asking that the bill committee be able to hear from witnesses.

“I listened carefully to their evidence and was particularly impressed by the argument from many that bringing the expertise and experience of psychiatrists and social workers more closely into the process would strengthen the bill and provide extra protections in the areas of assessing mental capacity and detecting coercion.

“The multidisciplinary panels would operate under the supervision of the judge-led Commission, which would be an independent public body. The panels can be chaired by a serving High Court judge, and the process would be subject to judicial review in the High Court.

“I believe that retains the judicial element which many colleagues were supportive of, while adding the extra safeguards provided by this multidisciplinary approach, and is a real strengthening of the Bill.”

Kim sent all MPs a copy of a letter the committee had received from families affected by the current law. In it, they said:

“We have personally experienced the trauma and heartbreak that has been raised with each of you by your constituents. We urge you to remember us, and the thousands like us, as you continue your work on this most vital Bill.

“Some of us have seen loved ones suffer in their final hours, living with unbearable pain or with untreatable symptoms such as faecal vomiting, slow suffocation and fungating tumours.

“Some of us have experienced the trauma of family members and friends taking their own lives; on railway tracks, with guns, or with medication they’d stockpiled or ordered from the dark web. The memories of how our loved ones died will haunt us for the rest of our lives.

“Some of our loved ones died hundreds of miles away in Switzerland, at a cost of around £15,000. Some of us faced traumatic police investigations for the crime of showing compassion to those we loved the most in the most difficult of circumstances. Others watched loved ones walk through airport departure gates, alone so scared were they that we would be investigated for supporting them.

“Some signing this letter are living with terminal illnesses right now. Their very deaths depend on the deliberations you make in Committee and the subsequent votes.”