THE ELDERLY
139. The views we received here showed some similarities
with those regarding the disabled. We were told, for example,
by the British Geriatrics Society (BGS) that "many older
people, probably because of the care that we in the United Kingdom
offer them, often feel burdened and often feel a burden to their
families, and consequently we are anxious that the choices they
make may not truly reflect their wishes but may reflect the way
they have been led to feel by the way they are treated within
the health and social care system. We feel that older people can
be very vulnerable to adverse influence from outside, families
and carers, and many of our members have felt that requests to
end somebody's life artificially have usually come from families
and carers rather than from the patients themselves" (Q 1173).
Help the Aged was also "worried that, if this Bill is enacted,
some vulnerable older people might pick up little bits of the
story. They might pick up in the same way as they are picking
up around 'do not resuscitate' stories. This fear of going into
hospital'What is going to happen to me?'is a fear
that, if they went into hospital, a doctor would have the right
to take their life" (Q 1174). And we were told also
that, "one main fear is
about going into residential
care, not feeling that they have any power over decisions even
if the systems try their best to help them to make decisions"
(Q 1175). "Many older people," we were told, "are
disempowered in the present system, in the health and care system,
very often as a result of poor health and of a general fear of
speaking up, or most importantly, simply being unaware what their
rights are and what they are entitled to" (Q 1176).
On the other hand, Professor Tallis was not aware of evidence
"that increasing age is automatically associated with a decline
in assertiveness over things that matter" (Q 1907).
140. Asked by Lord Joffe to comment on the results
of surveys whose results suggested that some 70% to 80% of elderly
people favoured the Bill, Tom Owen of Help the Aged acknowledged
that the concerns he had expressed were not shared by the whole
of the elderly population. He was however concerned that such
polls did not necessarily reflect the views of older people who
found themselves experiencing failures in the health and social
care system and that, just as older people often complained that
the young did not understand what it was like to be old, so many
elderly people did not necessarily know what it was like to be
very old or infirm (Q 1183). Professor Tallis on the other
hand cited evidence from Oregon and The Netherlands to the effect
that people over 80 years of age tended not to opt for assisted
suicide or voluntary euthanasia. "The older the age of death,
the less need in general there is likely to be for assisted dying.
Younger people die harder than very old people" (Q 1906).
In Conclusion
141. We have explored in this chapter a number
of the key real-life issues affecting the subject of assisted
suicide or voluntary euthanasia. We turn now to our findings concerning
the experience of legislation of this nature in other countries.
26 See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Pages 2-3 Back
27
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 140 Back
28
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 140 Back
29
In the United Kingdom higher specialist training to consultant
level in palliative medicine takes four years, whereas in other
countries, including the USA and The Netherlands, there is no
such specialist training and the speciality of palliative medicine
is not recognised. Back
30
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 135 Back
31
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 97 Back
32
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 3 Back
33
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 5 and Q18 Back
34
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 393 Back
35
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 6 Back
36
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 138 Back
37
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 6 and Q8 Back
38
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 112 Back
39
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 112 Back
40
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 110 Back
41
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 97 Back
42
The Department of Health workforce census for 2003 shows that
about a quarter of all doctors practising in the United Kingdom
qualified outside Britain or the European Economic Area. Back
43
Clause 1(2) Back
44
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 80 Back
45
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 730 Back
46
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 140 Back
47
Clause 1(2) Back
48
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 5 Back
49
Clause 1(2) Back
50
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 132 Back
51
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 83 Back
52
See Volume II: Evidence, HL Paper 86-II, Page 220 Back