Professor Desmond O'Neill:

I refer back to the collective wisdom of the Danish group. The Nordic countries, as a rule, have been prudent around this issue. Prudence is often the under-recognised virtue in what we do. If there had been more prudence in the banks, we would not have had a banking crash. Prudence is an awareness of the implications of what you are doing to yourself and to other people. It is deeply imprudent to open this out in a negative, nihilistic way. I have always seen a low threshold for a second opinion as always opened outdoors. The support of palliative care and the growth in families and those around them are factors. There are difficulties throughout life. Our role is to minimise them. It is not a perfect system but doing something that further damages and aggravates is not helpful.