End-of-life care and assisted dying - share your views and experiences as a social worker
Baroness Molly Meacher, a social worker by background, is bringing forward a Private Members Bill which has its first reading in the House of Lords on 22 of October.
Setting the scene, Baronness Meacher writes:
"Currently, assisted dying is currently illegal in England and Wales under section two of the Suicide Act 1961. Under this act, a person judged to have assisted the suicide or attempted suicide of another person is liable to imprisonment for up to 14 years. However, the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 provided an exemption on bringing charges under section 2 of the 1961 act……there have been no prosecutions for the offence of assisting suicide since 2010."
Read more about Baroness Meacher’s bill
BASW’s position on assisted dying was last reviewed in 2016. At this time, BASW urged extreme caution in any change in the law for reasons which are described in this position statement. We are looking at this again.
Social workers – we are seeking your views and experiences
We are seeking your views about the legal and care framework that social workers have to work in at end of life.
We have prepared a short, three-question survey to help capture these views and experiences.