Three GPS give their opinion on assisted death

If you ask these three doctors about being GPS, their answers are remarkably similar.

“It can be the best job in the world,” we tell me. It is “a privilege” another said. They all talk about how they like to know their patients and their families.

But all three have different views of assisted death.

Currently, the law here is clear: doctors cannot help patients commit suicide. But that could change.

The bill on terminal adults (end of life) is debated in parliament. And if this takes place, it will give certain patients in the terminal phase in England and in Wales the assisted death option.

Here, three doctors – Abdul Farooq, Susi Caesar and Gurpreet Khaira, who all have a different point of view on assisted death – tell us what they think of the proposals.

Dr. Abdul Farooq is 28 years old and relatively new in his career as a general practitioner.

We meet at his home in eastern London. He gives his little girl a bottle of milk before heading to the corner of the street to pray in his local mosque.

His religion is absolutely the key to his opinions on assisted death.

“I believe in the sacred character of life. As a Muslim, I believe that life is a gift from God and that no one has the right to prevail,” he said.

Dr. Farooq feels that taking your own life is false, and therefore, it would be “guilty” for him to be involved in this process – even indirectly.

If this law adopted – and a patient were to ask him for help to die – he would refer them to another doctor.

He says that anything beyond that would be “a red line that I would never cross”.

Dr Farooq’s objections are also informed by his professional experience, in particular his time working in a hospital.

He describes an “unbeatless death” – people who died in animated services – and says that the health system does not obtain the basics in end -of -life care.

“There are so many things we can do to make patients comfortable, if we have the right resources available,” he said.

“We have a whole field of medicine called palliative medicine who is there to help people towards the end of their lives. So why do we not throw all our resources and money and make the death process less frightening?”

He is also concerned about specific parties of the proposed law. Doctors should assess whether terminal patients should die within six months before being approved for an assisted death.

Dr. Farooq considers this to be problematic. The last day is easy to plan, he says, but adds that some patients he should die in the six months can always be alive a year later.

Is there something that could change your mind on helped death?

“No,” said Dr. Farooq without hesitation. “I am firmly against. Personally and professionally, I think it’s the right thing to do for patients.”

Dr. Susi Caesar has been a general practitioner for 30 years and thinks that she would probably not have been so vocal in his support for assisted death.

Now she says she is ready to “stick her head above the parapet”.

Recently, she lost her beloved father, Henning. We meet in a lake near Cirencester because being near the water reminds him.

“My father was the most incredible person and it’s so evocative of everything he loved,” she said. “Outdoor, walks, sailing, boats, kayaking, swimming.”

She thinks that Henning would be proud of her for telling us about her opinions because he was a long -term believer to assisted death.

When he received a diagnosis of terminal phase, Dr. Caesar says he has become “terribly frightened by the manner of his dying”.

“My father was a very proud man, and the thing that was unbearable to him was the idea that he would lose control at the end of his life – from his bodily functions, his mind, his ability to be the person he was.”

In the end, Dr. Caesar says that “his father’s medicine has never fully followed his symptoms”. For her, the argument on subsidized death comes down to the choice of the patient.

“Everyone will die. Each individual deserves the comfort of choice on the way they die. I would like that for me,” she said.

She recognizes that many of her colleagues have “very, very reasonable concerns” about assisted death. But she says “we have the wisdom to set up systems that will work and overcome some of these obstacles.”

I ask if Dr. Caesar’s support for assisted death would result in his work in this area.

“I will be in front of the queue to help people have death they wanted,” she said. “I think it is the central joy of my work – to be with people at the very end of their health journey.”

Dr. Gurpreet Khaira has no certainty of Dr Farooq and Dr Caesar.

She describes herself as “enough in conflict on the whole subject” of assisted death.

Dr. Khaira is a general practitioner in Birmingham but also has a first -hand experience as a patient.

In 2017, she received a diagnosis of breast cancer. She found exhausting chemotherapy and says that if cancer had returned, she would not want to put it back.

“I remember being very passionate that I should have the choice to know if I go through this kind of treatment, or to say” it’s enough now “,” she said.

She says it was very important for her to have the choice of the end of her life.

Now it is an image of health, which works with a hill with ease.

As a general practitioner with decades of experience, she fears that vulnerable patients will opt for assisted death rather than being a burden for their loved ones. Or that some families could force vulnerable patients.

“It is one of my greatest areas of personal conflict. I know there are a lot of plans to put guarantees.

“You can be the best doctor or defender in the world, but you cannot resume where someone is controlled or handled.”

For her, there is a fundamental conflict between her personal and professional experiences.

But, she adds: “As a doctor, I would be very reluctant to put a syringe so that a patient can make this choice.”

The balancing of these two sides leaves it “in a very guilty place”, she says, but adds that it is not a weakness to be open-minded. For her, making this decision is an “evolutionary process”.

It is striking when he speaks to Dr Farooq, Dr Caesar and Dr Khaira, how their opinions on subsidized death reflect their fundamental belief systems.

In this regard, general practitioners may be a bit like the rest of us.

If this bill adopts, doctors will have to wonder if they are ready to work in the field of assisted death or not. We could ask them to participate in the process – whether preliminary discussions with patients who want to die, to prescribe a substance so that someone ends their own life.

If they don’t want it, no one will force them.

They will have time to think about it. If the deputies vote in favor of this next month, it could still take years to enter into force.