Assisted dying shouldn’t happen in hospices – palliative care should

Mary Potter Hospice chief executive Tony Paine was asked by The New Zealand Herald about the case of a patient who was not able to have an assisted death at one of the hospice’s facilities. The 44-year-old patient’s life was later ended at a site provided by a private company.

Mr Paine reportedly said that he could not comment on an individual case, but he said assisting a person to die when they wish to do so sits outside what the hospice delivers as palliative care.

Hospice care, rather, seeks to provide comfort and support without hastening death, he said.

Mary Potter Hospice supports the specialist palliative care needs of patients if they choose assisted dying.

A 2020 High Court decision stated that hospices could object to having assisted dying on their premises.

Following a review of the End of Life Choice Act, the Ministry of Health is recommending that hospices and other care facilities, including all aged care facilities, not be able to prevent onsite patient assessment for assisted dying by a SCENZ-appointed doctor nor prevent a SCENZ-appointed doctor from assisting a patient to die onsite. The balance of rights should favour access to healthcare by the consumer, including assisted dying services, the ministry concluded.

A law change in this area would “significantly impact the atmosphere” of rest homes and hospices, the NZ Catholic Bioethics Centre told the ministry review of the End of Life Choice Act. The Centre also reiterated that the provision of assisted death is not part of healthcare. “It is in fact the antithesis of ‘healthcare’ since it means the end of healthcare. It is not a medical procedure, and doctors should play no role in its practice.”

Last year, Nathaniel Centre director Dr John Kleinsman told TNVZ that, for patients on a pathway to assisted dying [AD], palliative care staff continue to provide quality holistic care, despite the challenges.

“This situation respects the significant philosophical, ethical and medical distinctions between palliative and AD. It shows that they can co-exist while remaining separate and distinct, both able to stay true to their very different underlying worldviews and philosophies,” Dr Kleinsman said.

“There is no need to try and force these two worlds together, and to do so would only damage palliative care.”

The Mary Potter Hospice Foundation is an independent, non-sectarian charitable trust.

FULL STORY

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/assisted-dying-patient-struggled-to-find-place-to-die-because-of-hospice-opposition/X6J4UPGNZJGOFF25PUTD3KN5LQ (By Isaac Davison, New Zealand Herald)

RELATED COVERAGE

https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/08/31/should-nz-make-changes-to-its-assisted-dying-law (TVNZ)

https://marypotter.org.nz/about-us/our-history (Mary Potter Hospice)