One of Britain’s most respected surgeons has backed a right-to-die campaign by saying that he would help terminally ill patients end their lives.

Sir Terence English, who performed the first heart transplant in the UK in 1979, has thrown his weight behind an influential steering committee that supports assisted dying.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, the former president of the Royal College of Surgeons and the British Medical Association said: “A doctor has responsibility first to the patient and, if I knew that patient was terminally ill, was of sound mind and hadn’t been got at by friends and relatives, I would be prepared to assist him or her.”

Sir Terence’s comments come after director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer clarified his position on the right-to-die debate.

Many people interpreted Mr Starmer’s move as a clear indication that friends and family were unlikely to face prosecution for helping a loved one with a “clear, settled and informed” wish to die.

Sir Terence, who has joined the Healthcare Professionals for Assisted Dying group, added: “I would want there to be safeguards. I would want to have a doctor who had not been involved with their care, who had been registered for five years, who would confirm mental capacity of the patient, that they were sound of mind.

“I would also wish to ascertain that no pressure had been put on him or her by the family and, if in any doubt at all, involve a psychologist.”

Topics