Our place to talk – an independent website for supporters of the Liberal Democrat party in the UK.

The most-read independent website by and for Lib Dem supporters. Not paid for by trade unions or millionaires.

Advert

Author Archives: A retired medical doctor

The civil service impact statement for the Assisted Dying Bill could be very inaccurate

By A retired medical doctor | Wed 18th June 2025 - 5:31 pm

Editor’s note: This article contains details of terminal medical procedures which some readers may find upsetting.

The Civil Service has done an ‘impact assessment’ for what the NHS and hospice sector will look like if Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying (AD) Bill becomes law.

It’s chosen a sample of a few ‘comparator’ US jurisdictions and New Zealand to show how many cases of AD there are (expressed as percentage of total deaths). The population of the sample is equivalent to England and Wales.

The projection estimates a few hundred AD cases here a year initially, rising annually. However, New Zealand, in its first year of AD, recorded an AD rate six times the rate that was recorded in the first year in California – equivalent to 4,000 England/Wales deaths if we scale up for population size. The maximum Civil Service estimate for the first year in England and Wales is 1,600 deaths. So what has gone wrong ?

Continue reading »

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged assisted dying bill | 13 Comments

Most Read

Op-eds

Welcome to Lib Dem Friends of Gaelic Language and Culture (Caron Lindsay)
Going for four in a row in Scotland (Grant Toghill)
Lib Dems call for action on smart spectacles – some constructive feedback (Caron Lindsay)
AI has moved from future threat to present reality (Sean Worrell)
Where next for the Lib Dems in London? (Josh Lucas Mitte)

Advert

Recent Comments

Nonconformistradical
@Adam "Yeah right. Remember when we were all told to go paperless to save the planet? How’s that working out!?!" Personally I'm using a lot less paper tha...
Catherine Smart
Should the purchase of the Specs be allowed only by people who have a license to use them - given only for a valid and useful reason?...
Ernest
The question we should be asking is why we need more data centres? What would be stored on them and especially who owns them and to what benefit will they serv...
David Raw
@ James Flower Ah, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, city of my birth, proves my point. Where you work (as opposed to 'flying the flag') you can win, whereas the people you...
Alex Macfie
The political chatterati may view the Holborn & St Pancras by-election as a proxy for the next London Mayoral election, but the locals will just see it as a...