Dame Esther Rantzen’s joy as GP leaders change stance on assisted dying — ‘very good news’

Dame has welcomed the “very good news” that GP leaders have dropped their opposition to as the UK moves closer to changing its laws. The Royal College of GPs’ Council voted to shift to a neutral position after surveying almost 9,000 members, in what campaigners called a “watershed moment”. It follows similar moves from opposition to neutrality by medical bodies including the Royal College of Anaesthetists (2024), the Royal College of Surgeons (2023), the British Medical Association (2021), and the Royal College of Physicians (2019).

Dame Esther, who is living with terminal lung and has become a leading voice in the fight for greater choice at the end of life, said: “This is very good news.” The RCGP was previously the only remaining UK medical royal college that opposed assisted dying. All are now either neutral or have no position.

Dame Esther’s friend Dr Hilary Jones, a GP with four decades’ experience and health editor at ITV’s and Lorraine, also welcomed the “momentous decision”.

Writing for the Daily Express, he says: “Like many doctors, I’ve been at too many bedsides to ignore the terrible suffering that can happen as a person dies. I’ve witnessed pain and distress that outreaches even the best palliative care.

“Not every GP supports assisted dying, but many of us do, all over this country. I am delighted that RCGP now has a position where it can represent us all.”

Sarah Wootton, chief executive of campaign group Dignity in Dying, described the change as “a sensible and pragmatic decision, reflecting a remarkable shift in how the medical profession approaches choice at the end of life”.

She added: “The decision recognises that these reforms are almost certainly coming to parts of the British Isles. With the Isle of Man on the cusp of changing the law, and bills in Westminster, Scotland and Jersey making steady progress, there is a strong chance that some terminally ill British citizens may take this choice before the end of the decade.

“This move to a more neutral position will ensure RCGP is well-placed to represent all member perspectives as reforms are implemented, creating a climate of respect where all views can be aired.”

Launched in January, the survey received responses from 8,779 GPs and GP registrars. Some 47.6% said the RCGP should oppose assisted dying becoming legal, while 33.7% wanted the College to support it. Some 13.6% said the RCGP should neither support nor oppose it, while 5.1% were undecided.

Members were then asked to vote on what should happen if no position received more than 50% support. The largest proportion (49.8%) said the College should adopt a neutral stance, while 23.8% said it should adopt the position chosen by the highest number of respondents.

The RCGP Council of elected representatives discussed the results at a meeting on Friday, before voting 61% in favour of neither supporting nor opposing assisted dying.

College chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne said council discussions and the survey “have clearly shown that GPs have widely differing and strongly held views about assisted dying – we care deeply about our patients”.

She added: “This is a highly sensitive personal, societal and legislative issue, and we need to be in a position to represent the views of all of our members and patients; shifting to a position of neither opposing nor supporting assisted dying being legal will allow us to do this best.

“Neither opposing nor supporting assisted dying does not mean we will be stepping back from the debate. Our focus will be on advocating for our members, regardless of their views on assisted dying, as to how potential changes in the law will impact on their daily practice and the care they deliver for patients.”

The RCGP has made a series of recommendations to MPs as they scrutinise Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which passed a landmark second reading vote in November.

These include the suggestion that, if legalised, assisted dying should be provided through a standalone specialised service that GPs and other medics opt into, and not part of core general practice work. Doctors should also be protected from discrimination if they refuse to participate, the College said.

Professor Hawthorne added: “As well as ensuring there are robust safeguards in place to protect patients, the College will work to ensure that no GP feels as though they have to participate in delivering assisted dying services – and that these services are provided separately to core general practice.

“We will also be clear that funding should not be diverted from general practice – or palliative care services – in order to deliver these services.

“GPs and our teams are an integral part of the delivery of high-quality palliative care, supporting patients and their families through an extremely difficult time.

“Above all else, it is vital that regardless of whether or not assisted dying is permitted for terminally ill patients, they have access to the best possible palliative and end of life care.”

The Daily Express has been a leading voice in the battle to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill people for more than three years.

Ms Leadbeater’s Bill is currently undergoing scrutiny by a committee and is expected to return to the Commons for a further vote among MPs next month. She said the RCGP’s decision “reflects the many conversations I have had with GPs during the progress of this bill”.

The Spen Valley MP added: “Individual doctors, like all other health professionals, have differing views of this issue and I fully understand and respect that. It is one reason why the Bill allows them, for whatever reason, not to participate in the process if they choose not to.

“I am encouraged by the evidence from other countries where similar legislation has been passed that, once assisted dying has become established as part of the choices available to people at the end of life and been seen to work safely and effectively, more and more health professionals come to support it and participate in it.”

Dr Simon Opher MP, a practicing GP and member of the assisted dying Bill Committee, said: “This marks a real shift for the RCGP and respects the range of views on assisted dying.

“We as doctors need support to help our patients navigate this change. It is my experience as a GP that has confirmed my support for change, many of the people I’ve cared for have asked me to hasten their deaths and some have sought assisted deaths abroad.

“It is not right that we leave dying people to face these impossible decisions, but that is the reality of the blanket ban on assisted dying.”