Conference Report: Conversations on the Future of Assisted Dying in the UK – Bristol (March 2025)

The Centre for Ethics in Medicine, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol hosted a student-led conference on assisted dying in the UK, in March 2025.

The IME covered speakers’ travel costs with an institutional grant. The conference focused on what future healthcare in the UK may look like in the context of assisted dying and considered the key challenges and concerns surrounding its implementation. The conference explored several perspectives, with a mix of speakers from law and palliative care (from Bristol, Manchester and Cardiff) and delegates from medicine and nursing.

In light of recent developments regarding the introduction of an Assisted Dying Bill to UK legislation, we felt it pertinent to explore this topic further through this conference. We were pleasantly surprised to receive a large amount of interest, which further highlighted the relevance of the topic.

The event ran from 09:15 to 16:15 and was held in the Wills Memorial Building on the University of Bristol campus.

Four one-hour oral presentations were delivered:

1. An Overview of Assisted Dying – Delivered by the Healthcare Ethics and Law (HEAL) students: Daniel Kim, Madeleine Bonner, Scott Wallace, Amelie Zaidi, Thea Capener, and Tash Leek. This talk provided a general introduction to the concept of assisted dying and the background of the current Assisted Dying Bill.
2. Possible Models for Implementation – Delivered by Prof. Richard Huxtable. This talk detailed past proposals for an Assisted Dying Bill and explored what the new bill might look like if passed into law. It also highlighted key ethical concerns.
3. A Healthcare Professional’s Duty: Conscientious Refusals – Delivered by Dr. Alexandra Mullock. This presentation examined what the new legislation might mean for doctors and other healthcare professionals, including discussion of a potential conscience clause.
4. Changes to Palliative Care: What This Should Look Like – Delivered by Prof. Fiona Rawlinson. This talk addressed the relevance of palliative care in this debate, how it might evolve in light of the bill, and what steps could support a thoughtful and smooth implementation.

After each talk, the presenter answered questions from the audience. We used both in-person and digital methods (via Mentimeter) to facilitate audience engagement.

The event was attended by a wide range of students and staff, including Healthcare Ethics and Law students, medical students, nursing students, and academics from both the University of the West of England and the University of Bristol.

Our conference provided an excellent opportunity for students and academics from a range of disciplines to engage critically with a live and deeply complex issue in healthcare. The combination of legal, ethical, and clinical perspectives fostered an interdisciplinary conversation, allowing attendees to reflect not only on the content of the proposed bill but also on its broader implications for professional practice, patient care, and public trust. We collected feedback from participants at the end of the session, which is summarised below.

• How much did you enjoy the conference? (0 = not at all, 5 = very much): Average score of 4.8/5
• How much did you learn? (0 = nothing, 5 = a lot): Average score of 4.6/5
• Would you be interested in future events from the Centre for Ethics in Medicine? 10/10 responses said “Yes”
• Total number of attendees: 48

Given the continued political momentum behind the Assisted Dying Bill, we feel it is important that these conversations extend beyond academic settings and into wider public and professional forums. Future events could explore how to prepare healthcare professionals for the ethical challenges they may face following the potential implementation of this new legislation.

I would like to extend sincere thanks to the IME for supporting our conference, making it possible to fund speaker travel to our university. I would also like to thank our speakers for taking the time to contribute to the event, and my fellow conference organisers:  Madeleine Bonner, Thea Capener, Tash Leek, Scott Wallace, and Amelie Zaidi. Finally, I extend special thanks to Dr Zuzana Deans and the rest of the HEAL academic and administrative staff for going above and beyond in helping to organise the conference.