Professor Max Watson:

The answer is that we are not good at it. We generally see patients a lot closer to their death. When we see someone deteriorating on a week-to-week basis we talk in terms of weeks and on a day-to-day basis we talk in terms of days. Traditionally, we have not been good at prognosticating accurately. Our focus is not so much on time, but rather on trying to help people be as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. Those are our skills. I understand the Deputy's compassion and desire to legislate. As a doctor, I am not trained to detect coercion or manipulation. I am not great at prognostication. Studies show that we are not great at identifying depression. There is so much uncertainty.