Tuesday 6th May 2025
The future of hospice care and assisted dying
A meeting was held, in person, which heard from those in the hospice and end-of-life sector who are preparing for potential law change. Hospice CEOs and clinical leads discussed how the discussion around assisted dying has evolved in the end-of-life sector since the introduction of the Terminally Ill Adults Bill, and what they are doing to ensure staff and patients have the information and support they need should the law change. Professor Alan Kellehear spoke to the need for culture change towards patient-centred care at the end of life, and Rebecca Gillanders shared personal testimony of her mother’s death from cancer, and the suffering she endured in the last month of her life despite excellent palliative care.
Speakers
Dr Jeevun Sandher MP (Chair)
Mark Jarman-Howe
David Barker OBE
Dr Karen Chumbley
Professor Allan Kellehear
Rebecca Gillanders
Monday 24th February 2025
Progress of the terminally ill adults bill and Exploring public views on assisted dying
A meeting was held, in person, to discuss the progress and next steps of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, and to hear from experts who led the Nuffield Council on Bioethics’ Citizens’ Jury on assisted dying - the first of its kind in England. Julian Huppert, former Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge, shared personal experience of his mother’s assisted death in Sydney, Australia.
Speakers
Paula Barker MP (Chair)
Henrietta Hopkins
Professor Anne Kerr
Dr Julian Huppert
Monday 10th February 2025
the importance of end-of-life conversations for patients and healthcare professionals
A meeting was held, in person, to discuss the importance of open and honest conversations about end-of-life options for patients and healthcare professionals.
Speakers
Kit Malthouse MP (Chair)
Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield
Professor Emily Jackson OBE
Dr Julian Neal
Monday 27th January 2025
EGM AND ELECTION OF NEW CO-CHAIR
A formal meeting was held, in person, to elect Jeevun Sandher MP as the new Co-Chair of the Group following the departure from the APPG of Ruth Cadbury MP. The meeting also heard from Alex Greenwich (independent member for Sydney in the South Wales Parliament), and Claire Neilson shared personal testimony of her brother’s assisted death in New South Wales.
Speakers
Kit Malthouse MP (Chair)
Jeevun Sandher MP
Alex Greenwich MP
Claire Neilson
Wednesday 11th September 2024
Inaugral meeting
A formal inaugural meeting was held, in person, which included the election of officers. Ruth Cadbury MP was elected Chair and registered contact, Kit Malthouse MP was elected Co-Chair, and Christine Jardine MP and Jake Richards MP were elected as Officers. The meeting also heard from Lord Falconer of Thoroton, and Catie shared personal testimony of her mother’s death from motor neurone disease.
Speakers
Ruth Cadbury MP (Chair)
Kit Malthouse MP
Lord Falconer of Thoroton KC
Catie
Wednesday 19th April 2023
AGM AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS
A formal meeting was held, in person, to re-elect officers of the Group, and election of new officers. Baroness Jenkin, Rachel Hopkins MP, Lord Falconer of Thoroton and Lord Goddard of Stockport were elected as officers of the group. The existing officers were all re-elected. There followed a short update from Sarah Wootton, Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying, on the state of the assisted dying debates in other jurisdictions in the UK and around the world.
Tuesday 22nd November 2022
DEVELOPMENTS ACROSS THE UK AND OVERSEAS
Kit Malthouse was elected Co-Chair of the APPG following the departure from the APPG of Andrew Mitchell MP. The meeting heard from speakers representing jurisdictions in the UK and overseas about the various campaigns and debates under way on assisted dying.
The meeting was hybrid, with speakers from Scotland (Liam McArthur), Jersey (Philip Ozouf), the Isle of Man (Alex Allinson) and France (Benjamin Mattely) joining virtually, with Karin Smyth and Catherine Forest speaking in the room with Parliamentarians in attendance.
Speakers
Karin Smyth MP (Chair)
Liam McArthur MSP
Deputy Philip Ozouf
Dr Alex Allinson MHK
Benjamin Mattely, ADMD France
Dr Catherine Forest, family doctor in California
Thursday 10th February 2022
AGM AND DISCUSSION OF ASSISTED DYING CAMPAIGN
Officers of the APPG were re-elected to serve another term. Following the formal business of the AGM, there was a discussion of the assisted dying campaign and of the upcoming ITV Tonight documentary on the subject.
Dame Jenni Murray, who presented the documentary, spoke alongside two of those whose experiences and stories featured in the documentary: Simon Wessely, the eminent psychiatrist, and David Minns, a man living with incurable cancer. The meeting was held online.
SPEAKERS
Karin Smyth MP (Chair)
Andrew Mitchell MP (Co-Chair)
Professor Sir Simon Wessely
Dame Jenni Murray
David Minns, Dignity in Dying campaigner