Statement from End of Life Doula UK and Living Well Dying Well Training on the Assisted Dying Bill Vote
End of Life Doula UK and LWDW Training advocate for choice at the end of life and support individuals in navigating their unique experiences, values, and wishes at the end of their life. We also encounter people in our role who are suffering not inevitably, but as a direct result of pressures on NHS services and a lack of access to palliative care.
We strongly believe that as the assisted dying bill progresses, it must go hand in hand with an increase in funding and support for public health and palliative care services to ensure that high quality, timely, palliative care is available to all who need it. Assisted dying must not become an option that it is offered, or that people are forced to ‘choose’, because they are unable to access palliative care.
As a membership association and training organisation, we will continue to hold a neutral stance on the subject of assisted dying. This neutrality allows our learners and members to provide nonjudgmental, unbiased support to those who seek our assistance, respecting the person’s individual views and wishes at all times. It also respects the individual views of our members on assisted dying. We will be carefully considering the implications for the doula role and doula movement as this bill is considered further.
We also believe that we must continue to increase understanding of ‘ordinary’ death and dying. We see first-hand in our work how explaining this natural process and guiding people and those close to them through this, enables people to approach death not only without fear but with meaning, and many moments of joy.
We hope that the next stages of this bill will include in-depth, meaningful consultation with those who work closely with people who are dying, including end of life doulas, whose insights can contribute to an informed and compassionate process.
