Debate by Individual Members under Standing Order 11.21(iv): The Assisted Dying Bill
16:46
Janet Finch-Saunders
I too cannot support this motion today, or indeed support the principles of this Bill. Lord Falconer’s Bill has been described by many as not only unethical, but also unnecessary and dangerous; and that it has the potential to marginalise the disabled and the vulnerable within our society. There has been much talk of the need for those wishing to end their lives in terms of compassion and dignity. However, it is essential that we show this same compassion, dignity and care for all of our terminally ill.
The Suicide Act 1961 is currently addressing society’s attitude towards assisted death: that any active encouragement or assisting in a person’s demise is a criminal offence, and the evidence is mounting and overwhelming a very strong opposition to any such legislative change in this area. The BMA and the royal colleges of physicians, surgeons and general practitioners are strongly opposed to legislation of this kind. Less than one in five doctors have stated that they would be willing to engage in the assisted dying principles. Of course, we have all witnessed the shocking catalogue of abuse with the Liverpool care pathway. That has been down to interpretation and has been subjective, where we have seen patients with a chemical cocktail of drugs with the express intent of hastening their deaths. I too personally witnessed that kind of scenario.
I, along with a hugely respected Baroness Finlay and countless medical professionals from across Wales, fail to see any such requirement for a change in our current and protective legislation. In Wales, as has been mentioned, we have some remarkable hospices, such as St David’s Hospice within my own constituency. Here, unlike in many other parts of the world, palliative care is a recognised clinical speciality. Recently, ‘The Economist’ conducted an international survey that saw Britain ranked first for its quality end-of-life care. More than 70% of the members of the Royal College of Physicians stated that, with improvements in palliative care, good clinical care can be provided within existing legislation, and patients can die with dignity. This notion was also set out by the Royal College of General Practitioners Wales in a letter sent to all Assembly Members by doctors Phil Williams and Helen Herbert.
I believe that we should recognise the immense work of our hospices and ensure that all of those suffering with a debilitating or terminal illness are afforded the same level of care, compassion and dignity so often available through our hospice movement in Wales.
The campaign Dignity in Dying states that, subject to strict upfront safeguards, this Bill should enable the terminally ill and mentally incapacitated to request life-ending medication from a doctor. How can we be sure that these safeguards will protect the vulnerable—those for whom ‘yes’ may mean ‘no’, and ‘yes’ may mean ‘I don’t know’? This fear has been expressed by one of the country’s most eminent end-of-life doctors, Baroness Finlay. She has said that it is too dangerous to allow the law to be changed so that somebody else assists and abets your suicide when there are no proper safeguards in this Bill. Again, we talk about interpretation and subjective.
16:49
Bethan Jenkins
Janet, will you take an intervention?
16:49
Janet Finch-Saunders
Yes.
16:49
Bethan Jenkins
I am just wondering, because I have heard the debate from all sides and I truly have not decided, if the High Court has to make a decision on it as well, is that not enough? Does that not go as high as you can possibly go in making that decision? Surely, if somebody makes the choice, that is for them. I do not think I could tell anybody how they feel in the Chamber. Surely, if you know how you feel, nobody else should take that away from you.
16:50
Janet Finch-Saunders
I take that point on board, but we are talking now about people who may be confused, or who have dementia and who may make a decision one day and then actually feel differently. We are talking about the point of no return and actually assisting in somebody's death. There is no coming back.
The Bill does not even define certain fundamental elements that could be viewed as safeguards, such as settled intention or how freedom from coercion or duress may be established. One consultant physician who cared for the elderly for more than 20 years, specialising in those suffering from progressive and usually fatal lung conditions, wrote to me asking me to carefully consider rejecting the proposal to support this, citing grave concerns regarding the reliable prediction of patient survival and the determination of mental capacity. He states that predictions are little more than estimates, with patients being told that they have only several months to live, but can go on to defy the expectations of medical teams. He believes that the practical realities of determining capacity, such as disagreements between family members, practitioners and the patients themselves, will mean that the implementation of this Bill in practice will leave room for interpretation and place the vulnerable at risk. Lord Falconer's Bill lacks the requirement for the psychiatric assessment of a patient when mental capacity is in doubt. We as Assembly Members cannot endorse this. I urge and ask you to reject this motion.
Welsh Conservatives Debate: The Programme for Government
17:44
Janet Finch-Saunders
They do say that a week is a long time in politics, so five years could certainly be considered a lifetime in terms of realising the intended aims of any Government and its leader. Well, today, the spotlight is on the manifesto promises, the pledges to the electorate and the programme for government wish list and whether they have been delivered, or not. After all, delivery is the key, and it is only by the proven outcomes and delivery that we witness whether the lives of people across Wales have improved or otherwise.
Certainly, since my introduction into the Assembly, not a single week has gone by without you, your Ministers and, indeed, your backbenchers when challenged on the failures and poor performance simply turning around and pointing the finger of blame at those leading the UK Government, yet at the same time conveniently dismissing the facts and the reality that, in just 12 months, the deficit left by your Labour Government has been cut. Income tax has been cut for over 25 million people. Benefits have been capped to reward those who find work, with 1.7 million people now in employment. The state pension has increased by £800. There are more children in ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ schools, and immigration from outside Europe is now down to the level of the 1990s. Over 70,000 families now have their own home, thanks to our—well, their—Help to Buy scheme.
While there is much talk of further devolution and powers for Wales, with possible better funding, the simple fact is that any political party running this administration would have the same powers, the same resources and the same levers of power. So, how have you scored? In our health service, there has been a constant refusal to deny Welsh patients a cancer treatment fund, despite Labour’s decision to support one in England. Under your leadership, Welsh cancer patients are seven times less likely to access innovative life-enhancing and life-prolonging new medicines. The number of NHS beds has fallen by 2,000 in three years. Patients have to wait more than eight weeks to access diagnostics and there is evidence of cancer patients visiting their GPs 13 times before a referral. Ambulance response times have only been met once in two and a half years. Your own accident and emergency target times have not been met once. In my own constituency of Aberconwy, for certain pain management therapies there is a 19-month waiting time. Fail.
On education, despite your promise in 2009 to prioritise education, Wales has tumbled down international league tables in key skills. Wales’s performance in PISA rankings between 2009 and 2012 deteriorated in science and maths, and Labour’s target to raise this poor performance by 2015 has been ditched because you are simply not up to it. In your own conference, you were quoted as saying:
‘we hold up our hands and say, yes we could have done better.’
Quite shockingly, you have admitted that you and your Minister simply took your eye off the ball on school standards. I am not sure that my parents in Aberconwy consider their children’s education to be classed as some kind of game. Fail.
On local government, in just three years we are now on to our third Minister. We have the failed collaboration agenda and the waste of many resources in that regard. Our local authorities include thousands of hard-working front-line workers who are now in a current state of flux and uncertainty like never before. They are charged with delivering important and vital services, yet with diminishing resources and no real idea as to how long or even which county they are going to be employed in. The recent consultation responses on local government reform showed that only half of the authorities want to engage with your Government on this process.
There is an out-dated and flawed settlement and funding formula, the lack of a national performance system as intended in your programme for government, the withholding of funding coming over from the UK Government for a much-needed council tax freeze that would have helped our hard-working families who have witnessed increases of 150% in council tax since Labour came to power, hundreds of hard-working front-line workers walking out in protest and outrage at the eye-watering salaries of some of our chief executives in Wales and poor corporate governance witnessed in authorities such as Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, not forgetting the exorbitantly costly special measure required to bring Ynys Môn authority back from the brink, after years of your mismanagement. [Interruption.] You lead it.
There has been a lack of transparency and democratic accountability, and issues around senior levels of pay that have seen some chief executives writing their own salary packages behind closed doors, well above the annual salary of our Prime Minister. No action; in fact, a refusal to acknowledge the need for a review and to implement an independent remuneration board—
17:49
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Finish with this, please.
17:49
Janet Finch-Saunders
[Continues.]—from your Welsh Government, until the opposition parties forced your hand, and a culture of local government in Wales that saw Jacqui Thompson being arrested for simply recording council proceedings. Fail.
17:49
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Finish, please.
17:49
Janet Finch-Saunders
First Minister, five years as leader, 15 years in Government—
17:49
The Deputy Presiding Officer
You are out of time