Euthanasia aritcle i wrote.

Euthanasia- should they be allowed to die?

A discussion across all sides of the debate on Euthanasia is urgently needed in light of recent media events in Bournemouth where a Dr Philip Nitschke from Australia was banned from holding a workshop on how people can end their lives. Dr Nitschke choose Bournemouth because of it’s high population of old age pensioners. This has a direct link to Scarborough a town where a lot of older people see out their remaining days. It also made me question Euthanasia in general- is it a valid procedure? The media in recent weeks has had it’s eyes firmly planted on the case of Daniel James, a 23 year old rugby player who was paralysed in accident on the field. This tragic case made me think how would Scarborough react to such a case? In Scarborough do we provide enough care to stop this chain of thought?
The fundamental question behind Euthanasia locally and in the UK is should people decide when they want to die? I spoke to Jen Hardy from campaign group Dignity in Dying a group in favour of Euthanasia, she feels ‘the UK is making steps in treatments and choice for the terminally ill and elderly. In July 2008 the government launched the End of Life care strategy. The strategy marks an important step forward in the way that people approaching the end of life are treated.’ People may have more choice but Hardy goes onto explain that government strategy is merely not enough. At Dignity in Dying we campaign for even greater patient choice at the end of life, we are campaigning for a change in law to give terminally ill mentally competent adults who are in unbearable suffering, the possibility of an assisted death.’ When asked about the case of Dan James it was clear Jen felt he had reasons for his death and questions why he had to travel abroad. ‘Assisted death in the UK is punishable by up to 14 years in prison. To this date over a 100 known british citizens have travelled abroad to die, I feel this is something that needs to be curbed mentally competent terminally ill should have the possibility of dying in their homes.’
Certainly Dignity in Dying believes Euthanasia should have some sort of legal classification but what do the medial professions of Scarborough think? I spoke to a source in the medical profession in the Scarborough area who felt that not enough was being done in the region to combat this chain of thought.‘ Probably not enough measures are in place due to resources and financial constraints , as with the whole NHS.’ When asked about palliative care and whether enough is been done in the district to ensure a standard my source had mixed views. ‘Macmillan nurses provide an excellent link between the community nursing and social services and are finding available health funds to use to fund care for palliative care patients. There is a lack of hospice beds and most hospice facilities have a long waiting list.’ This suggests the terminally ill and elderly may not be getting the care they need but the medical source also suggested that ‘the care is of a brilliant standard. I believe that hospice care such as provided at St Catherine’s hospice in Scarborough is the gold standard of palliative care for patients and their significant others.’ So if hospice care is so good why do people feel the need to end their life prematurely? Surely if they are getting the best care then they will end their life in peace in a place which has treated them with the utmost respect and given them fantastic care.
I feel people who want to cut their life short such as the terminally ill, paralysed or elderly should be given that choice and that it should be down to individual choice if a person is mentally stable to make that decision. The statistics do add up, 86% of people in Britain feel the competent terminally ill should be able to exercise their right to die, a further 79% feel the terminally ill should be able to exercise their right to die if they are not mentally ill. But what do you think in Scarborough ? I spoke to Claudia Seaman of Lady Edith’s Avenue, Newby who is a district nurse based at a local GP surgery she feels the choice to die should be exercised in hospices such as Scarborough’s.’because of modern effective palliative care most people are able to die peacefully, I feel that a Euthanasia option should be available for those in physical or mental torment, why is that ethically wrong? It seems that publicly Euthanasia is gaining momentum but what about the people rallying against Euthanasia what are their beliefs?
As I researched this topic I came across Care not Killing a UK based campaign group against Euthanasia, speaking to a CNK official they feel that pro-Euthanasia groups are gaining too much momentum. ‘Care not Killing is working hard to oppose Euthanasia groups in Westminster and Scotland but we are countering sustained , well funded opposition from pro- euthanasia organization, lack of funds is a disabling factor.’ The official goes onto say that the governments ‘ End of life strategy ‘ is a good start to countering pro Euthanasia groups suggesting the real issue is getting hospice and palliative care more government funding as it is largely charity funded.
This is a good suggestion maybe instead of looking to Euthanasia as a solution we should be putting more time and effort into palliative care maybe that way people in Scarborough will enjoy a happy and dignified end to their life without resorting to Euthanasia.
The future of Euthanasia in the UK is one many people will question, will we see in the future hospices like our own in Scarborough performing life ending procedures legally and purposefully? Although it seems we may swing to something more along those lines in the future, there is still a smell of scepticism over the issue especially in the medical profession. While researching this article I asked a few GP’s to express their views on Euthanasia and because it’s illegal they were extremely reluctant to do this often giving one word answers or declining to comment. Euthanasia has gained in popularity but it seems locally and nationally we are some way off seeing Euthanasia being legal and mainstream.