Amendment to assisted dying bill gives MPs ‘chance to stick to their word’, says Marie Curie

Leaders from Marie Curie, the UKs largest charitable provider of palliative and end of life care, have said that five years is too long to wait to assess palliative and end of life care services should the assisted dying bill pass.

On Tuesday, MPs on the assisted dying bill committee will debate an amendment * tabled by Daniel Francis MP and the end of life charity Marie Curie which would require an assessment of existing palliative and end of life care services, and, the impact that assisted dying would have on those services, within twelve months of the bill passing.

Under current proposals, an assessment is not required until five years after the bill has passed, which Marie Curie's chief executive Matthew Reed argues is 'frankly absurd'. He says:

"Marie Curie maintains a neutral position on assisted dying – we neither campaign for, nor against, a change in the law. It's vital that as part of the assisted dying bill, MPs recognise the broken state of palliative and end of life care in our country and ensure there are plans in place to fix it.

"An assessment of the current availability, quality and distribution of services is one important place to start, but the suggestion that this review wouldn't come for five years is frankly absurd.

"Countless MPs have stood up and talked about the importance of palliative and end of life care, this amendment provides them with a chance to stick to their word."

In addition to this assessment of need, Marie Curie are also calling for a national palliative care strategy, supported by minimum quality standards, and a sustainable funding settlement for delivery.

Daniel Francis MP, said:

"MPs like myself on the bill committee have heard a range of expert evidence stating that despite the very high quality of palliative and end of life care in this country, and the phenomenal efforts of clinicians and organisations delivering it, access to this vital care is not equal and is subject to a postcode lottery.

"I've tabled this amendment because I believe we cannot leave fixing end of life care to chance. We need to know where the gaps currently are, so we can ensure action is taken to close them. I hope that my colleagues - regardless of whether they want to see the introduction of assisted dying or not - will support this important first step."

Marie Curie has written to all twenty-three MPs on the committee this weekend urging them to support the amendment on Tuesday. Within each MPs letter is a selection of comments from their own constituents sharing recent poor experiences of end of life care, gathered from the charity's ongoing Fix End of Life Care campaign.

Irene, who signed the petition, lives in Spen Valley, the constituency of Kim Leadbeater MP. Her experience highlights the lack of access to end of life care at home. She said:

"My son was given 18 months to live after they found a brain tumour, he died in April 2024. The actual day he died was traumatic, he needed sedation because he was stiff and tense making terrible sounds but when we asked for a nurse to come to sedate him it took six hours after countless phone calls much pleading and tears to get a district nurse to come. He died within minutes after the sedation but he had suffered for six hours while waiting for them to come, one of our doctors apologised to us saying he had not had the care from them that he should have had, but it was too little too late because his end of life will live with me forever."

To sign Marie Curie's Fix End of Life Care campaign, visit mariecurie.org.uk/petition

ENDS

*Amendment NC28 can be found on the amendment paper here:
terminally_ill_adults_day_pbc_0318.pdf (page 68)

Notes to editor:

For further information or interviews please contact Nicola Price, PR Manager, 07900580991, Nicola.price1@mariecurie.org.uk
OR the Marie Curie Press Office: media@mariecurie.org.uk / 0845 073 8699

Please note, Marie Curie is not a cancer charity but the UK's leading 'end of life charity'. We care for people with any illness they are likely to die from including Alzheimer's (and other forms of dementia), heart, liver, kidney and lung disease, motor neurone disease, Parkinson's, and advanced cancer.

About Marie Curie

• Marie Curie is the UK's leading end of life charity.
• The charity provides expert end of life care for people with any illness they are likely to die from, and support for their family and friends, in our hospices and where they live. It is the largest charity funder of palliative and end of life care research in the UK, and campaigns to ensure everyone has a good end of life experience. Whatever the illness, we're with you to the end.
• If you're living with a terminal illness or have been affected by dying, death and bereavement, Marie Curie can help. Visit www.mariecurie.org.uk or call the free Marie Curie Support Line on 0800 090 2309.

In Wales, any measures to improve the provision and delivery of palliative and end of life care is a matter for the Senedd and the Welsh Government. Welsh Ministers have set out their ambitions for palliative and end of life care in the Quality Statement, however further work is required is make these ambitions a reality. Marie Curie Cymru will continue to work with policymakers in Wales to ensure that the necessary changes are made to ensure that everyone can access high quality palliative and end of life care in the right place, at the right time.

Whatever the illness, wherever you are, Marie Curie is with you to the end.