Number of Shropshire residents to die at Dignitas revealed - campaigner slams UK assisted death laws

New research covering usage of the Swiss organisation between November 2002 and August 2023 by the Assisted Dying Coalition has revealed the statistics, prompting a campaigner to brand British laws as "barbaric".

A Dignitas death at the assisted dying centre's Zurich clinic is estimated to cost around £10,000.

The report highlights data on the types of cases that go abroad, showing that many suffer from neuro-degenerative conditions. Some of them would not yet be classed as terminally ill or have less than six months left to live, showing that any assisted dying law must ensure that eligibility criteria are based on suffering, not months left to live.

UK residents with a neurological diagnosis made up almost half of those to have gone to Dignitas - 201 out of 405 people - between 2005 and 2022.

The new research also shows where UK residents have come from before having an assisted death at Dignitas, while UK members of the organisation have risen from 781 in 2010 to 1,528 in 2022.

The numbers demonstrate that more affluent local authorities see higher rates of individuals going abroad; Greater London had 108 assisted deaths, followed by Kent and Surrey with 20, Hampshire, 19 and Devon and East Sussex both with 18.

A total of 12 people from the West Midlands went to Dignitas between November 2002 and August 2023.

Counties that are also further from an airport, meaning travel is significantly more difficult and expensive, often see fewer assisted deaths.

Out of the top 10 counties, eight were in the south.

Nathan Stilwell, Assisted Dying Campaigner for Humanists UK, said: "This report clearly shows that the UK’s assisted dying law is broken, brutal and barbaric. We must stop exporting compassion to Switzerland and give choice, freedom and dignity to the people in this country who are suffering.

"Having a postcode lottery to end suffering, and an unequal system, where only the rich and physically able can take advantage, is absolutely wrong. 31 jurisdictions around the world, accessible to nearly 400 million people, prove that compassionate options are available.

"Adults of sound mind, who are intolerably suffering from a physical, incurable condition deserve the freedom and right to have a dignified end-of-life choice on their own terms."

The Assisted Dying Bill is currently going through the House of Lords and is at the second reading stage, with several other stages yet to go.

The bill would allow terminally ill, mentally capable adults to have the option of accelerating their deaths with medical assistance.

Currently, assisted dying is illegal in the UK, and anyone who is considered to have been involved in an assisted death could be prosecuted for murder or manslaughter.

Between 2009 and 2021, there were 167 cases of assisted death referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in the UK. Of those, three cases resulted in convictions, one was acquitted after trial, eight were referred onwards for prosecution for homicide or other serious crimes and eight are currently ongoing.

The police withdrew 32 cases and 110 were not proceeded with by the CPS.

Noel Conway, of Shrewsbury, was a staunch campaigner, challenging the blanket ban on assisted dying in the UK. He suffered from motor neurone disease after being diagnosed in 2014, and died at home in 2021, aged 71.

The Assisted Dying Coalition is the UK and Crown Dependencies coalition of organisations working in favour of legal recognition of the right to die, for individuals who have a clear and settled wish to end their life and who are terminally ill or facing incurable suffering.

To read their full report visit humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024-03-14-ADC_dignitas_single.pdf