THE
P RTAL
September 2011
quadriplegia from cervical injury. Those returning
from war zones could make another group in this
category. I do accept that all these conditions have to
be borne courageously but I am always struck by the
strong desire to live and survive that all patients often
show. It was once expressed to me by a patient with
quite crippling osteoarthritis that ‘living sure beats the
alternative..’.
Page 11
financially on the state or personally to their families
or dependants.
There may even be pressure from within families
to ‘end life’ as can happen now with requests for
termination of pregnancy.
With a severely depressed patient, surely the actions
of a responsible doctor would be not to endorse
Only once has a patient expressed to me support for deliberate self harm.
‘assisted dying’ and this was a patient without a chronic
or terminal condition.
We all learn from experiences in life – being
supportive to a dying patient will be a humbling
Possible effects of the legalisation of ‘assisted dying’ and enriching though distressing experience but we
in General Practice in the UK
will show support and compassion for the patient
and other family members. Possibly some important
I feel very uncomfortable at the prospect of such positive influences and conversations with the dying
a proposal becoming law and feel we should be person might be lost.
encouraging reverence for life rather than the opposite.
At the very centre of what doctors do is the ‘doctor/ Conclusions
As doctors, we must continue to make care of our
patient relationship’.
patients our first priority and always aim to relieve
If the doctor’s duty was other than to preserve life, symptoms and distress. The advice we give patients
this would undermine our function and respect for will always be based on our training, our continued
vulnerable groups – we all need equality of care and medical education, our judgement and experience –
illness provision including the disabled and those with Of course, it might not always be what a patient wants
to hear.
learning difficulties.
We should promote reverence for life and always
In the future if such a proposal were to become law,
anyone with a chronic condition, whether physical help patients till they die with dignity.
or mental, may feel under pressure to make a value
Reference www.gmc-uk.org
judgement on themselves either not to be a burden
Congratulations
Congratulations
to
Ordinariate
Deacon James Bradley who served
as deacon for the Holy Father, Pope
Benedict XVI, at the World Youth Day
Opening Mass in Plaza de Cibeles,
Madrid, on Thursday 18th August.
Deacon James sang beautifully the
Gospel according to Matthew, the
parable of the house built on rock
(Matthew 7: 24-17).
The Tunbridge Wells Ordinariate
Blog reported that someone on
Facebook had wondered if Deacon
James had “asked the Holy Father for the
Gospel blessing in Latin”, because “a smile seemed to creep into the eyes of Pope Benedict XVI”! Whatever
the reason for the Pope’s joy, it was a great joy for all of us to see Deacon James serving as an ambassador for
the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.
You can still watch EWTN coverage’s of the Mass at www.tiny.cc/WYD-Mass from which the above
photograph was captured.