Labour MP for Spen Valley and sponsor of the assisted dying bill Kim Leadbeater has tabled an amendment to make pharmacy workers exempt from “any duty to participate” in the assisted dying process.
“No registered pharmacist or registered pharmacy technician is under any duty to participate in the supply of an approved substance to a registered medical practitioner for use,” it said.
Read more: Assisted dying bill reveals pharmacy tech role and opt-out clause
The amendment was introduced ahead of the next debate on the bill – formally known as the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill – which will take place tomorrow (May 16).
The House of Commons has yet to make a decision on Leadbeater’s amendment but if passed, it would mean that pharmacy staff would be under “no obligation to provide assistance” and would be protected from being “subject to detriment” for not participating.
“Freedom of conscience”
Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) chief executive Malcolm Harrison welcomed the news and stressed that “pharmacists and pharmacy technicians should not be obligated to participate in any aspect of assisted dying if it is against their personal beliefs”.
And the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) claimed that it had “successfully secured a key exemption for pharmacists” after it “consistently advocated for protections for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who choose not to participate”.
Read more: Assisted dying: MPs admit not ‘enough’ discussion of pharmacists
RPS president Professor Claire Anderson urged MPs “to support this amendment and ensure that the bill allows pharmacists and their teams to exercise freedom of conscience”.
The bill was published in November and has gone through numerous readings in the Commons since then – with the bill to go to the House of Lords for further consideration after tomorrow’s debate.
While it initially included an opt-out clause stating that “no registered medical practitioner or other health professional is under any duty...to participate in provision of assistance”, there was no direct reference to pharmacy professionals in the clause.
Read more: Assisted dying: Pharmacists’ voices are ‘missing’ from dialogue
But Leadbeater’s new amendment aims to “[expand] the protection currently provided by that clause by broadening the persons to whom it applies and the functions to which it relates”, it explained.
It comes after MPs admitted in March that they “have probably not spoken enough” about the assisted dying bill’s “impact on pharmacists”.
And pharmacist and PhD researcher Isaac Moore last month stressed that pharmacists’ voices were “missing” from discussions on the bill.
Read more: MPs discuss state-wide pharmacy ‘assisted dying drugs’ service
Meanwhile, the assisted dying bill in Scotland passed a “stage one vote” in parliament this week (May 13), the RPS reported, with 70 votes in favour and 54 against.
“This means that the legislation will be subject to further scrutiny by members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs),” it said, noting that the next stage of debate will allow amendments to be brought forward and voted on.
