This assisted dying bill is a distraction from real needs

Saw Mrs. Price down the village last week. She’s 89, sharp as a tack but frail. Her husband’s been gone ten years, and she told me she’s just lonely. Her GP visits once a month, a nurse calls in twice a week. It’s not enough. She needs more than pills. She needs people, company, help with the day-to-day.

This talk of assisted dying feels like a way out for the government, a way to tick a box instead of actually sorting out care for the elderly. It’s easier to talk about ending lives than it is to properly fund home care, improve social services, or make sure old folk aren’t just left to fade away in their homes with minimal support. We need more nurses, more carers, more community support, not just an easier way to shuffle people off.

My father died last year after a long illness. It was hard, yes, but the district nurses were angels. They treated him with dignity.