Battle lines

Some rather pathetic arguments are being developed to counter the growing demand for the legalisation of assisted dying. One of these is that it’s going to cost the NHS a packet to administer (in every sense of the word). Health Secretary and man of faith Wes Streeting has apparently ordered civil servants to weigh up the costs. Now, all-round loyalist media performer Pat McFadden has suggested that patients who want to take the route of assisted dying may have to pay for the privilege. Why, he asks, shouldn’t this be considered when people are prepared to go to Switzerland to die (where it costs £15,000 apparently)? Despite his Catholic upbringing, McFadden actually voted for the second reading of the bill, so perhaps his comments now are suggestive of how some MPs voted ‘aye’ perhaps with the intent of sabotaging it later. To suggest that paying for assisted dying could be contemplated in the NHS begs the question ‘what other NHS services could be charged for?’ The NHS already spends an awful lot of money helping people to die (but it’s done discreetly). Going down the open assisted dying route is more likely to save the NHS money than otherwise. I might just add that doctors, i.e. GPs already charge for a wide range of services relating to their patients, as anybody who has sought a health power of attorney for a relative will know.