Good afternoon



This morning I interviewed Emeritus Medical Director for Public Health England,
Professor Paul Cosford for the Today Programme on BBC Radio 4. The focus of our
conversation was the urgent need for a change in the law on assisted dying.



Since his diagnosis of lung cancer in 2017, Professor Cosford, who had been
uncertain about assisted dying, struggled with the limited options he knew he
would face at the end of his illness. Over the last year, he has spoken out on
the impact of the current law on him personally and his desire for choice.



We agreed that it’s time MPs faced up to reality on the choices available to
dying people in the UK by gathering the evidence on the impact of the current
blanket ban.



You can listen back to our discussion here (the discussion starts around 2 hrs
35 minutes in), on the BBC Sounds website
[[link removed]] .



Listen here → [[link removed]]

I’ve campaigned on assisted dying since my brother, David, died of bone cancer
in 2012. Despite receiving excellent care, there was no pain relief that could
fully alleviate his agony. I had glimpses of what a good death should look like.
When the morphine worked, David would be pain-free, surrounded by family,
joking, or telling them how much he loved them.



But mostly, it was not like that. Our final memories of David are overshadowed
by the hours he spent in agony, knowing the nurses were doing everything in
their power and would do more if they could. But they were prevented from doing
so by our cruel law.



Parliament must listen to dying people and their families. Dignity in Dying will
be in touch in the new year with more information on what we can all do to make
this happen.



My very best wishes,







Prue Leith



P.S. If you missed my interview with Professor Paul Cosford on the Today Programme
this morning, you can listen back to it here
[[link removed]] .

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