Assisted Dying Position Statement

• 1 March 2025

As part of Arthur Rank Hospice Charity’s values and in line with our strategic aim to provide outstanding care, we make clear statements about ethical issues that can cause misunderstandings or concern.

We make these statements public via our website, and they are intended to act as a brief guide on the issue for patients, their loved ones and the community we serve, as well as our colleagues and volunteers, including Trustees.

Given the increased attention on palliative and end of life care, in part aligned to the current Parliamentary process to debate a Private Members Bill on the introduction of Assisted Dying, Arthur Rank Hospice Charity issues the following statement in March 2025:

Arthur Rank Hospice Charity’s vision is to ‘Make Every Moment Count’, we do this by providing outstanding palliative and end of life care for people in Cambridgeshire and support to those who love them. We provide high quality specialist end of life care and bereavement support for those in our community who need this.

We care for patients who have an incurable or life-limiting diagnosis, helping to improve their wellbeing and quality of life. We also provide compassionate, dedicated and dignified care for patients at the end of their life. We not only take care of patients’ physical needs; we consider their emotional, spiritual and social needs too. We also support families and close friends, both during illness and in bereavement.

We recognise that assisted dying is a complex and emotive issue and we respect everyone’s right to their own opinion about it. No-one will be prevented from accessing our services nor have the way that we care for them influenced by their view on assisted dying.

We encourage patients to discuss their wishes with those who are important to them and make an Advance Care Plan including having a ReSPECT (Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment) conversation and having this documented.

We believe there is an important debate to be had about the right of every individual to be well cared for up until the time of their death. We believe in improving access to, and funding for, palliative and end of life care for everyone across the UK, no matter who they are or where they live.

Our priority is ensuring that everyone in our community who could benefit from hospice care is aware of the wide range of services and support Arthur Rank Hospice Charity provides and is able to access them should they choose to do so.

We will continue to raise awareness of our services in Cambridgeshire, work with our colleagues in and throughout Hospice UK to challenge common misconceptions about hospice care and encourage everyone from our diverse community to talk openly about death and dying, whilst working hard to ensure vital hospice care for local people is properly funded.