The ODOC Podcast

The UK General Medical Council is consulting on new draft guidance about personal beliefs and medicine. This includes changes to their guidance on conscientious objection. How could these changes impact medical professionals who would not wish to participate in assisted suicide should this ever be legalised in the UK? Dr Mary Neal, Reader in Law at Strathclyde University joined Dr Gillian Wright and other healthcare professionals to discuss the implications of proposed changes to GMC guidance on personal beliefs and conscientious objection in a webinar in April 2026.  See below for video recording and downloads of key GMC documents VIDEO - GMC Consultation on Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice – Our Duty of Care The post GMC consultation appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

In part 2 Professor David Albert Jones discusses conscience clauses and no detriment provisions with senior doctors from the devolved nations.  Why these have been lost from the Scottish Bill, and what are the implications for doctors and health care organisations? Complex conundrums in Scotland arise when legislation regards assisted suicide as medical treatment or […] The post David Albert Jones – part 2 appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

David Albert Jones, Professor in Bioethics at St Mary’s University in London describes the experience of assisted suicide in other jurisdictions. In Australia a time limit of expectation of death within  6 months (or 12 months for neurodegenerative disease) in Victoria in 2017 was expanded in Queensland in 2021 to 12 months for all patients […] The post David Albert Jones – part 1 appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

Dr Mary Neal, Reader in Law at the University of Strathclyde, explains why Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying Bill (Scotland) will be stripped of conscientious objection provisions before MSPs vote on the final version of the bill. Westminster will require clauses relating to conscience to be removed from the bill before the Stage 3 vote. Holyrood […] The post Mary Neal appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

Dr Anni Donaldson is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Strathclyde and an expert in domestic abuse and gender-based violence. She explains the dangerous intersection between assisted suicide and domestic abuse in Scotland where one in three adult women experience domestic abuse. She warns that assisted suicide risks putting an additional tool, a […] The post Anni Donaldson appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

Dr Ramona Coelho explains the rapid expansion of Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying programme and why the UK needs to learn from Canada’s experience.  Ramona is a family physician based in London, Ontario primarily serving individuals living with disabilities, mental health disorders, and other marginalised groups. She is a founding member of Physicians Together with […] The post Ramona Coelho appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce is the UK Children’s Laureate and multi award-winning children’s book author and screenwriter. He reflects on life, death and assisted suicide with palliative medicine Professor Mark Taubert. They share moving stories of challenge and hope and explore the language and culture of the assisted suicide debate. The post Frank Cottrell-Boyce appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

Chelsea Roff is founder of Eat, Breathe Thrive, an international eating disorder charity. She co-authored the first systematic review of deaths by euthanasia and assisted suicide in people with eating disorders, describing 60 cases internationally. Suicide is a leading cause of death in eating disorders, leading to complex ethical and clinical challenges when NHS resources […] The post Chelsea Roff appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

Hon. Robert Clark, Former MP and Attorney-General from Victoria, explains concerning realities about voluntary assisted dying (VAD) in Australia. ‘Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil’. While the UK parliament is told that VAD has been an unqualified success in Australia, in reality there is lack of reporting and scrutiny of VAD processes, […] The post Hon. Robert Clark appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

Irene is a Professor of Intellectual Disability & Palliative Care in London. Her research into euthanasia cases in the Netherlands reveals why the UK needs to be very concerned about people with autism and mild learning disabilities qualifying for assisted deaths. The post Irene Tuffrey-Wijne appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

On suicide prevention day Prof Mark Komrad, clinical professor of psychiatry from Maryland, on the challenges of doctor-assisted suicide for psychiatrists and suicide prevention.  What can the UK learn from flawed safeguards in Oregon’s model of assisted suicide, where the law has expanded and where financial considerations often outweigh ethical concerns, creating a troubling precedent […] The post Mark Komrad appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

Prof Mark Taubert, palliative medicine Consultant in Cardiff and national lead for DNACPR decisions in Wales. Legalising assisted suicide would be like ‘throwing a hand grenade into our NHS’. Mark draws insights from his clinical, academic and strategic roles, and the impact of decisions made during the Covid epidemic. The post Mark Taubert appeared first on Our Duty of Care.

David Randall, a consultant nephrologist working in London, speaks with Gillian Wright, about what really concerns him if assisted suicide is legalised in the UK The post David Randall appeared first on Our Duty of Care.