Dr. Hannah Linane:

I think it is. On the question of whether it will affect palliative care, there is data to suggest that people do have palliative care involvement. What is missing is what this looks like or entails. It is very challenging to have these discussions. It is challenging for the person and healthcare professionals to have such emotive discussions about what end-of-life care will look like. We would be advocating that palliative care be introduced at a time that is not a crisis and it is possible to build up a rapport. Sometimes, there can already be a reluctance to do this, so we want to ensure this is happening. We would also have concerns about adding this new choice into what is already a very emotive and decision-laden time. Suddenly, people will be weighing up the value of their lives due to the fact this is now an option.