A new poll suggests legalising assisted dying is a low priority for the British public, with most respondents saying the government should focus on cutting National Health Service waiting lists instead.
The survey of 2,090 adults by pollster Whitestone Insight, commissioned by the campaign group Care Not Killing, found just 13% of people chose assisted dying as their top priority from a list of 11 policy areas. By contrast, 70% of respondents said reducing NHS waiting lists should be the government’s priority, 54% prioritised adequate ambulance services and 44% singled out improving cancer care.
The poll comes as Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill prepares for debate in the House of Lords. Members of the Lords are due to hold an initial debate on the legislation on Friday, with a first vote expected on Sept. 19. Peers will then have the opportunity to propose amendments before a later, final vote.
Care Not Killing’s chief executive, Dr. Gordon Macdonald, said the findings showed the public wanted improvements to health services rather than a change to assisted dying laws. "Patients neither want nor need assisted dying, instead they want the government to fix our broken NHS," he said. He urged peers to scrutinise the bill and "significantly toughen up the weak safeguards that fail to protect the vulnerable and elderly".
The poll also found 63% of respondents agreed with comments attributed to Health Secretary Wes Streeting that money spent implementing assisted dying could be put to better use. Respondents expressed preferences for government spending on cancer care, mental health services, assistance for disabled people and children with special educational needs, and improved palliative care.
More than 50 leading psychiatrists have written to peers ahead of the Lords debate to express "profound concern" about the draft legislation. The letter warned that legalising assisted suicide would represent a "seismic shift in the established role of the psychiatrist from the prevention of suicide to assisting suicide, undermining our ethical responsibilities and the trust placed in us by patients and society," according to the text seen by campaigners.
Members of Parliament voted in June in favour of the assisted dying bill, marking an historic majority for legalisation in the Commons. The bill’s passage now depends on scrutiny and votes in the House of Lords, where peers can alter, delay or reject the legislation.
Advocates for change, including some disability and patient groups, argue that legal safeguards and strict criteria can allow terminally ill adults to choose an assisted death while protecting vulnerable people. Opponents, including palliative care organisations and some medical professionals, say the focus should remain on expanding access to high-quality end-of-life and mental health care and that safeguards may be insufficient.
As the Terminally Ill Adults Bill moves to the Lords, the new poll indicates that a substantial proportion of the public would prefer the government to prioritise addressing waiting lists and other NHS pressures over changing assisted dying laws. Peers are expected to debate those concerns alongside legal, medical and ethical arguments as they consider the bill in the coming weeks.