Dr Rachel Fisher
@DrRachelFisher
GP standing for dignity & relief from suffering at the end of life through better #palliativecare access. I will not shorten your life. @ourdutyofcare
A dark day. The government will fund your early death before your palliative care. Heartbroken now I must state publicly: I will not act to shorten your life or suggest you commit suicide. I will fight for excellent palliative care @OurDutyOfCare @larry_turner @antoniabance
Parliament-at-its-best latest. Read, and weep.
A month on from the Commons vote on assisted suicide, it’s clear that quite a few MPs were confused about the bill or influenced by misinformation. Here are 10 examples:
“I'm not sure people understand the humiliation when it's not a disabled person's fault.” The Leadbeater Bill would allow doctors to suggest #assistedsuicide to patients, unbidden, at a time when disabled people are shamed for having basic needs met. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…
bbc.com/news/articles/… Beautiful story. But since #assisteddyingbill I'm confused... am I supposed to be preventing suicide or assisting it @_Government_UK ? Such a cognitive dissonance. What if those suicidal through mental illness develop terminal illness? @OurDutyOfCare
The assisted dying era begins – what now for palliative care? - go.shr.lc/4eN30uR
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/… There goes another one.Message loud & clear: @_Government_UK will fund your assisted death but not your palliative care. Whoever thinks that assisted suicide is compatible with palliative care, look around. @SarahCoombesWB @OurDutyOfCare @AlexBallingerMP
"The true magic of our speciality lies in its unwavering affirmation of human worth..." "‘dignity’...is not a variable state, not something that can be measured or lost, but an inherent human truth. You can’t gain ‘dignity’ by what you do, nor can you lose ‘dignity’ by what has…
The local children’s hospice has resorted to this to try and make starmer address hospice funding, otherwise it may have to close
Sickeningly, we plough on with assisted suicide in the name of "choice" & "dignity". My patients don't feel dignified when they have no real choice because palliative care hasn't been funded or prioritised...And still won't be. Promises broken again @OurDutyOfCare @CNKAlliance
Sickeningly, we plough on with assisted suicide in the name of "choice" & "dignity". My patients don't feel dignified when they have no real choice because palliative care hasn't been funded or prioritised...And still won't be. Promises broken again @OurDutyOfCare @CNKAlliance
Aaaaand… “palliative care” is mentioned once. Once. In 168 pages. Our 10 year plan for dying people is: - Neighbourhood teams will include hospice and palliative care staff. - Use of Personal Health Budgets for accessing hospice care.
Aaaaand… “palliative care” is mentioned once. Once. In 168 pages. Our 10 year plan for dying people is: - Neighbourhood teams will include hospice and palliative care staff. - Use of Personal Health Budgets for accessing hospice care.
We heard repeatedly in the assisted dying debate that there is universal agreement that palliative care must improve. Well, now’s the time to translate those warm words into meaningful action. The 10 year plan is the opportunity. I desperately hope it’s not missed.
Black Country MPs, please read this wonderful blog on what palliative care really is. Please fight for it. My patients need it. They are not getting it. @SarahCoombesWB @AlexBallingerMP @antoniabance @SoniaKumarMP @PreetKGillMP blogs.bmj.com/spcare/2025/06…
The "20 a day for in pain" claim was from a mathematical exercise by health economists commissioned by @dignityindying It wasn't a clinical study. It is meaningless. Myths may make good PR..... but they make bad laws.
Oh look, here’s DiD’s “email your MP” template from last week using the ‘20 people per day die in pain with the best palliative care’ soundbite, even though it’s been pointed out to them that that statistic is flawed and therefore wrong. Not sure why I’m surprised.
This is outrageous and typical of the promoters of the bill. IT IS NOT FOR PEOPE FACING CERTAIN AND SEVERE SUFFERING. There’s nothing about certainty or suffering in the bill. It is for anyone whom 2 docs think has a 51% chance of dying within 6 months - including those who want…
"I believe that for those with a terminal diagnosis, facing a future of certain and severe suffering, the option of a dignified and peaceful death is a compassionate and humane one." yorkpress.co.uk/news/25265634.…
As someone who has lived their entire life with a disability, I have never felt as low as I feel at moment. Gone is the optimism of my youth and the heady days of the summer of 2012. I lived in almost total isolation throughout the pandemic and managed to avoid Covid. I voted…
thetimes.com/article/909a15… Deeply troubling after the government has failed to prioritise palliative care for decades. Why, @Keir_Starmer are you content to fund my patients' deaths but not their palliative care? Is this "choice"? Is this "compassion"? @nmdacosta @our
“…palliative care is about living, joy, fun, thinking about your legacy and working with a team to get on top of the big challenges. It’s only a little bit about dying. Let’s call it assisted living.” Great piece on palliative care by @ProfMarkTaubert
Palliative Care and what it does. My piece in @spectator today
My article in today’s Sunday Times @thetimes about how ethnic minorities are treated in an already overstretched health system and my fears that the rushed #AssistedDyingBill will exacerbate health inequalities thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar… looks like this on the page #buyApaper
‘My 30-year-old daughter, Domenica, who has Down's syndrome – and loves life – is highly suggestible and would intuit what her interlocutor wanted to hear, without understanding what she would be agreeing to. Yet in law she has what is called 'capacity'.’ dailymail.co.uk/debate/article…
I was listening to this discussion with @adamboultonTABB on @TimesRadio. Good discussion but chilling moment when Lord Steel (pro assisted dying Bill) said the quiet bit out loud - that law would surely save money as there will be less need to spend £££ on palliative care. Oh,…
Interesting on @timesradio Peers David Steel & Thérèse Coffey with @adamboultonTABB 1. Steel suggests the AD ‘panel’ is too expensive & may have to go; says AD will ‘save money’ 2. Coffey says the abortion change this week indicates how easy it is to amend primary legislation
Well, the legislation passed yesterday will allow someone with Downs Syndrome who cannot sign his name will be given a proxy to sign it for him and someone to walk him through all his steps towards suicide. Maybe you think this is sweetness and light. I don't. #assistedsuicide
All this talk of a “dark day”- the subject we’re talking about, death, pain, indignity- is very dark already.
What a progressive nation we are. Safeguards redefined as Barriers; Power dressed up as Dignity; now Kindness is Killing and Choice will become Duty. Change the language and use celebrities to campaign... then you don't need evidence any more. Bravo. @CNKAlliance @thelizcarr
314 MPs should be bitterly ashamed of themselves today. Passing the #AssistedDyingBill, which presents such a clear danger to disabled and vulnerable people, and is medically considered to be unsound, is a shocking dereliction of their duty to their constituents.