Voluntary assisted dying - Guidance for health practitioners

This guidance has been developed to assist health practitioners to understand the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 and their roles and responsibilities in the voluntary assisted dying process. The guidance situates voluntary assisted dying within the wider context of delivering high-quality end-of-life care and is designed for:

• medical practitioners who participate in voluntary assisted dying
• other health practitioners who provide care to a patient accessing voluntary assisted dying.

The guidance is primarily concerned with the voluntary assisted dying process but includes reference to best practice in end-of-life care. It is expected that health practitioners assisting a patient to access voluntary assisted dying will draw on their existing clinical knowledge and expertise as they would in providing any other end-of-life care.