As the debate around assisted death rumbles on, some of Britain’s most senior doctors have revealed their support for helping the terminally ill to die.

In a recent letter to The Times, they argue that the medical profession should no longer offer blanket opposition to helping people to end their lives.  In their letter they wrote: “As past presidents of Medical Royal Colleges we believe that there is a strong case for the legislation of assisted dying for terminally ill mentally competent adults … We hope that the debate among legislators and the public will focus on the central issue.  This is whether a small group of very advanced terminally ill patients should be allowed this degree of control over the end of their life.”

Currently, there are no leading medical body’s which officially support doctors providing drugs to assist in death.