It is nearly 40 years since we cradled our darling adopted six-year old daughter Georgina in the hours before her death from leukaemia. She was being cared for at home by us and her brothers as well as the Palliative Care team from Great Ormond Street Hospital. This was privately funded by a couple whose daughter had died in similar circumstances. Even with the best pain-relieving medication, her last few days were painful, distressing and heartbreaking as the disease progressed. Georgina died peacefully in her sleep. She had the best clinical, nursing and palliative care from the NHS. Nothing could have been prescribed that would have prevented her final suffering. Palliative care is still only available as a publicly subscribed, privately funded service. It is still not part of the NHS.

The Assisted Dying Bill about the personal right to choose an assisted end of life has its second reading on Friday November 29.  Over 75% of 10,000 people polled have said they would support the law to be changed to make it lawful for a terminally ill person to seek assistance to end their own life. Only 14% were against. The Bill proposes that competent terminally ill adults should have the right to choose a safeguarded route to an end of life. This would be assessed by two independent doctors and a High Court judge. End of life care will become safer and more compassionate. The Bill will also guarantee safety measures to prevent coercion with robust monitoring of individual situations.

Please contact whoever is your Hampshire MP. Ask them to attend Parliament on Friday November 29 to listen to the debate and vote for this Bill. Remember, this is just one of 11 further stages before the Bill is granted Royal Assent.


Peter and Maggie Rees,

Monarch Way,

Winchester

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