Health, Social Care and Sport Committee 11 November 2025
The member is right, which is why we should be legislating to make it easier to choose to live than to choose to die. We have a bill in front of us that is not necessarily doing that.
Our constituents face significant barriers in accessing social work assessments, and some are waiting a considerable time for assessment. It is really important that social work assessments to support disabled people to live independently are provided in a timely fashion and backed up with the resources to meet their needs, as assessed. Amendment 225 would not specifically require a referral to social work, but such referrals should be happening. That is a separate issue from what my amendment requires, which is that people should be trained in and understand the law around social work access. The member is right to say that that is important but, as the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland has pointed out, many professionals are doing a whole host of activities in their current role, and adding to that will require them to understand what responsibilities that includes, which should include the ones that are set out in my amendment 225.
Amendment 270 would establish an assisted dying training authority to develop and oversee mandatory training and accreditation for medical practitioners who were involved. The proposed ADTA would ensure that practitioners were trained in palliative care alternatives, in recognising coercion or undue influence, and in equality and non-discrimination principles. Only accredited practitioners could participate in the assisted dying procedure, which would ensure consistent standards, ethical awareness and public confidence.
Assisted suicide is irreversible—once it is carried out, it cannot be undone. That means that every decision to end a life must be made with complete information and with the confidence that those who are overseeing the process are fully competent in doing so and have all options available to them to explain to the person who is seeking access.
However, the bill does not currently require mandatory training for medical practitioners who are involved. There are amendments on regulation, including amendments in the name of Liam McArthur, but not on the detail. The detail is what matters in legislation such as this. There is no guarantee that individuals will be adequately equipped to detect coercion, undue influence or vulnerability, and there is no assurance that equality, non-discrimination and patients’ rights will be consistently respected. That is not a minor oversight—it is a profound gap in safeguards at the heart of a system that literally involves life and death.
Amendment 270 attempts to close that gap, uphold ethical standards and maintain public confidence in the process by ensuring consistency, professional competence and moral awareness at every step in the system. If the state decides to legalise assisted suicide, it has a duty to protect the most vulnerable from error, pressure and inadequate care. Amendment 270 would enshrine that duty in law and ensure that decisions about life and death were made responsibly, ethically and transparently.
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