Professor Nancy Preston - Co-Director of the International Observatory on End of Life Care - has spoken to Members of Parliament on the committee considering the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
Professor Preston is a world-leading researcher on the impact of assisted dying on families and healthcare workers, and travelled to Westminster to speak to the committee. Her contribution is available to watch via Parliament TV from 14:01.
Professor Preston said: "It's really important that academics are able to share their research with parliamentarians. I really wanted to get over the broader impact of assisted dying and ensure that families and healthcare workers are also considered.
"Research evidence suggests the majority of the public would like to see a change in the law, so it is important that how it is implemented is considered in detail and informed from countries where it is already in practice."
Professor Preston, along with Professor Suzanne Ost from Lancaster University Law School, also submitted written evidence to the committee, spelling out a list of key recommendations. These were informed by interviews with health care professionals and bereaved family members, and their first-hand accounts of assisted death experiences, and draw on their research on a model of assisted dying outside of the health care system.
The assisted dying bill passed second reading at the end of November, and is now being scrutinised by committee members.
