What protections would there be for vulnerable patients?

After the death of my father from cancer at the age of 57, my mother could not deal with her grief and began to suffer from severe depression. She reached a point whereby her GP said she had reached the lowest point possible short of suicide or literally fading away. Had assisted dying been available she would never have gone down that road because of her deep faith, but another person in the same position may well have requested their life to be ended at that point. Who would have passed judgement on the depth of her suffering and whether it was right or wrong to end that life?

With intense family and medical support over a few years, my mother’s health improved and she had the greatest pleasure of seeing four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren born, among numerous other joyful occasions.

She eventually had a severe stroke at the age of 87 and after seven weeks at the PEH she spent a further seven months at the King Edward VII Hospital. Stroke patients suffer considerable pain from the nerves in their paralysed limbs, they can only be lifted with a hoist, they suffer from the knowledge that their condition is terminal and they are imprisoned in their own body. If the right-hand side of the body is affected it will result in them losing the ability to speak. Yet these patients would not be able to access assisted dying as there is no quantifiable life expectancy for stroke patients and, as I understand it, assisted dying would only be for those people with six months or less to live.

I’m sure my mother often prayed, in times of despair, that her life would end but she still would not have requested assisted dying even if it had been possible to do so. Maybe others in her position would have done.

But I learned a lot from sitting with her for three hours every day. Not only did I spend a lot of time observing the care, or in some cases the lack of care, administered by staff. I also observed the attitude towards other patients by their family members and in some cases the almost complete abandonment of patients by their families. Most, like my own family, spent as much time as was possible with the patient and did their best in difficult and very sad circumstances.

However, this did not happen in every case. It was very obvious that the patient was often made to feel a burden and an inconvenience and I feel sure, had it been available, assisted dying would have been considered/requested by these patients rather than continue living, knowing the support from family was not there.

Where would the line be drawn and what safeguards could possibly be put in place for vulnerable people who may feel they actually don’t have ‘freedom of choice’ due to pressure and attitude felt from family members?

At the risk of being controversial, the majority of nursing staff were angels. But the minority wield a great deal of power when it comes to patients being made to feel ‘a nuisance’.

This particular experience is in relation to my mother suffering from a stroke, but exactly the same can happen in the cases of other serious illnesses whether the patient is in hospital, a care home or in their own home.

Nobody would wish a family member or any human being to suffer.

Neither would anybody choose to go through the harrowing time experienced when looking in on the suffering of a family member and feeling so helpless.

However, I don’t think these are good enough reasons to introduce a law that would be open to abuse, even if only in the minority of cases.

One last point. Thousands of people suffer pain, illness, depression, degenerative conditions etc. throughout many years of their life, not just in the final six months. So would we eventually see assisted dying for anyone in those situations, not just those with six months or less to live, who felt they could no longer see a point to living?

Be careful what you wish for.

PAT DEVENPORT,

Fermanville, Clos de Roberge,

Summerfield Road, Vale, GY3 5UJ.