MSPs must not water down health worker protections in assisted dying bill, membership bodies warn

Several organisations representing medical professionals have expressed concern about plans to remove safeguards from the assisting dying bill.

Scottish ministers have indicated an intention to remove protections which would allow health workers to opt out of delivering assisted dying from the face of the bill as it relates to reserved matters.

The government has said it would work with the UK Government to ensure these protections would be brought back in via secondary legislation.

But in a statement, the seven membership bodies have said the planned changes could “undermine both professional confidence and wider public trust” in the law.

They warn that addressing such issues via secondary legislation would mean limited time for scrutiny and argued that “it is essential that all key safeguards, responsibilities, and protections form part of the primary legislation from the outset”.

The bill, brought forward by Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur, is currently at stage three. MSPs will amend the legislation one final time before deciding on whether it should pass into law.

The parliament agreed to the general principles of the bill in May last year, though several MSPs who supported it at the time warned they may change their vote if sufficient safeguards were not put in place.

The health committee agreed a series of amendments throughout meetings in November, including raising the age of eligibility.

While the Scottish Parliament is able to legislate on whether or not assisted dying should become legal in Scotland, there are a number of areas which cross over into reserved areas.

The UK and Scottish Governments have been working together to resolve some of these, including a section 30 order relating to the regulation of substances to be used for the purpose of assisting dying.

However, in a letter to the health committee earlier this month, health secretary Neil Gray outlined two areas which remained outstanding which relate to the regulation of professions and employment protections – both reserved areas.

Gray wrote: “It is likely that some, if not all, of the relevant provisions will need to be handled through a section 104 order which, as outlined previously, will mean that they need to be removed from the bill to be dealt with in that way.”

The health bodies, while taking no collective view on the principle of assisted dying, warn removing these provisions would “represent a substantial weakening of the transparency and rigour expected in the development of major legislation”.

The statement continues: “The prospect of removing matters of such professional, ethical, and legal significance from parliamentary scrutiny at stage three, and deferring them to secondary legislation after the bill has passed, raises important questions about transparency, accountability, and the robustness of the legislative process.

“These protections are central to the safe, ethical, and fair delivery of care, and to the confidence of our medical workforce who may be affected by the legislation.”

The statement is signed by the Association for Palliative Medicine (Scotland), the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and four Royal Colleges representing GPs, Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, Psychiatrists, and Surgeons of Edinburgh.

McArthur has sought to assure medical professionals that such protections will be “robustly and tightly safeguarded”.

He said: “My bill cannot come into force until such measures are implemented so those medical professionals who wish to participate will be fully protected in doing so and there is no scenario in which those who don't would be required to.”

He added the section 104 orders can be debated by MSPs as well as MPs.

But MSPs who oppose the bill say the intervention only highlights further issues with delivering assisted dying in practice.

Tory MSP Edward Mountain said: “This is a bill to cover Scotland, and yet we’re putting key elements in the hands of a different parliament. These influential organisations are raising severe concerns, and the bottom line is MSPs cannot give them guarantees on any of it.

“That is precisely why many – whether they agree on the principles of assisted dying or not – will not be able to vote for this bill.”

And SNP MSP Ruth Maguire added: “No matter how much MSPs feel drawn to the cause of assisted suicide these fundamental concerns raised by trusted organisations – containing members both for and against the bill – around the removal of key safeguards from primary legislation and subsequent risk to professional confidence and public trust are not things that can be wished away.”