Dear Editor,
Following the Scottish Parliament vote on the Assisted Dying Bill, I wrote to my local MSP, Michelle Thompson, to express my deep concern about her decision to support the legislation.
Many people in this area are painfully aware of the serious and ongoing problems within NHS Forth Valley and at Forth Valley Royal Hospital. My family experienced these failures first-hand for over a year while trying to secure appropriate care for my wife. During that time we repeatedly sought the help of our elected representatives because the governance and administrative failures within the health board were having real consequences for patients.
Despite those concerns being well known, little has meaningfully changed.
In one particularly distressing moment when we were desperately seeking help from our MSP’s office, emergency services were called on us instead of the problems we were raising being addressed. At the time we were told plainly: “we can’t make them do anything.”
That statement has stayed with me. It highlights the reality many patients face when systems fail and accountability is weak.
For that reason, it is difficult to understand how legislators can support assisted dying while the systems meant to safeguard vulnerable patients are already struggling to provide safe and reliable care.
Before expanding the role of the state in assisting death, surely the priority must be ensuring our health service can properly care for people and protect them when they are most vulnerable.
Yours faithfully,
Kathleen Larkins
Maddiston, Falkirk
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