OPINION: The right to die at home should be a right of terminally ill patients, writes David Stewart, former Highland MSP
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One of my last campaigns as an MSP was the right to die at home, writes David Stewart.
As with most of my good ideas, it came from someone else – Dr Susan Bowie, a Shetland GP. I spent a day with Dr Bowie at her remote rural practice, listening and learning of the heart-breaking plight of terminally ill patients.
I became convinced that being able to die at home should be a basic human right.
Charity Marie Curie pointed to an opinion poll of Scots highlighting that over 60 per cent would prefer to die at home. An English and Welsh consortium, Dying Matters, shows that about 70 per cent of people would prefer to die at home but in fact over half of people with terminal illnesses die in hospital.
One north GP told me: “Patients are unable to die at home, even when they wish to do so, because of the lack of availability of care; it seems the resource for supporting this has
been designed out of the system.”
Another GP said: “People no longer expect to die at home, and choose the community hospital because they are afraid of lack of support at home. We do occasionally achieve a well-supported death at home, but usually because of extraordinary family commitment.”
I organised a debate in parliament on this subject last year, and was heartened by the strength of support for the idea across the political divide. However, it will require Scottish Government commitment to enshrine the right to die at home on the statute book.
The Scottish Parliament has rightly been praised for its ground-breaking policies on free personal care, the smoking ban and the minimum unit pricing for alcohol. A right to die at home could join that illustrious group of legacy policies that parliamentarians and constituents of the future could look back on with pride.
We need to shift the balance of care so that we not only train more carers and nurses to be available to support terminally ill people, but make sure that those carers and nurses are better paid and recognised for the valuable job that they do.
As Dr Bowie told me: “I almost dread someone asking to die at home at the minute because we struggle so much to find the compassionate round-the-clock care they need for the last few days of their lives. It would be a huge relief to me and many other GPs across Scotland that when someone says they want to die at home, we know for sure we can get the compassionate care to back up the palliative care we can provide.”
n In my last column, I predicted that the Chancellor would break the triple lock for state pensions. This would mean less of an increase for those in receipt of the state pension.
I regret to say that I guessed right but what I had not bargained for was that working pensioners would also take the hit on the new National Insurance increases. This is an unfair double whammy on the income of many already hard-pressed families.
The Chancellor may regret his financial sleight of hand.
n I am suffering from pre-study tension this week as my course starts next week. I have ordered all my books, arranged to see my tutor and invested in a new laptop. I have the joy of my first statistics lab in a few days – whatever that is!
Though I regret that I have had to turn down the kind email offers from the student sabbatical officers… Drag Disco Divas, Meditation For Beginners or even the Virtual Wine Yoga… Clearly I have some adjustment to make for student life!
