Dr. Andrew Lyne:

Dr. O'Shea and I, as part of our roles as general practitioners, also practise palliative care. Over the years, it has been a great privilege to bring comfort to people at the end of a terminal illness. However, my experience is sometimes that does not happen. Sometimes, the end of life is not comfortable. It can be distressing. All of us here have been to funerals. Rip.ie has already been mentioned. We have often heard people say it is an ease to them. Their suffering is over; and they are at peace now. Dying is a normal part of life, but the idea that palliative care can make it comfortable all of the time is simply not true in my experience. Part of the reason I have been motivated to come here is I have had experience with patients who, despite getting the best palliative care available to them, and it was good, had distressing symptoms. Those individuals have asked me if I would help them to die. I was a bit ashamed. They had distressing physical symptoms and great support from their families, but if I were in their situation, I could absolutely empathise with what they wanted. However, I was prohibited by the law of the land from giving the patient what the patient themselves wanted. I simply think that is wrong.