Downs Way Medical Practice, Gravesend.
Br J Gen Pract. 2009 Nov;59(568):844-9. doi: 10.3399/bjgp09X472908.
A bill to legalise assisted dying in the UK has been proposed in Parliament's House of Lords three times since 2003. The House of Lords Select Committee concluded in 2005 that 'the few attempts to understand the basis of doctors' views have shown equivocal data varying over time'. Fresh research was recommended to gain a fuller understanding of health sector views.
To examine GPs' views of the practice of physician-assisted suicide as defined by the 2005/2006 House of Lords (Joffe) Bill and views of their role in the proposed legislation; and to explore the influences determining GPs' views on physician-assisted suicide.
Qualitative interview study.
Primary care in South London, England.
Semi-structured interviews with GPs were conducted by a lead interviewer and analysed in a search for themes, using the framework approach.
Thirteen GPs were interviewed. GPs who had not personally witnessed terminal suffering that could justify assisted dying were against the legislation. Some GPs felt their personal religious views, which regarded assisted dying as morally wrong, could not be the basis of a generalisable medical ethic for others. GPs who had witnessed a person's suffering that, in their opinion, justified physician-assisted suicide were in favour of legislative change. Some GPs felt a specialist referral pathway to provide assisted dying would help to ensure proper standards were met.
GPs' views on physician-assisted suicide ranged from support to opposition, depending principally on their interpretation of their experience of patients' suffering at the end of life. The goal to lessen suffering of the terminally ill, and apprehensions about patients being harmed, were common to both groups. Respect for autonomy and the right of self-determination versus the need to protect vulnerable people from the potential for harm from social coercion were the dominant themes.
自 2003 年以来，英国上议院已三次提出将协助自杀合法化的法案。上议院特别委员会在 2005 年得出结论，“少数试图了解医生观点基础的尝试表明，数据随时间变化而不一致”。建议进行新的研究，以更全面地了解卫生部门的观点。
调查全科医生对 2005/2006 年上议院（乔夫）法案定义的医生协助自杀实践的看法以及他们在拟议立法中的角色；并探讨决定全科医生对医生协助自杀看法的影响因素。
定性访谈研究。
英格兰伦敦南部的初级保健。
通过主要访谈者对全科医生进行半结构化访谈，并使用框架方法分析主题，以寻找主题。
共采访了 13 名全科医生。没有亲自目睹可以证明协助死亡合理的终末期痛苦的全科医生反对该立法。一些全科医生认为，他们的个人宗教观点认为协助死亡在道德上是错误的，不能成为其他人普遍接受的医学伦理基础。一些全科医生认为，他们目睹了一个人的痛苦，在他们看来，这证明了医生协助自杀是合理的，他们赞成立法改革。一些全科医生认为，提供协助自杀的专门转诊途径将有助于确保符合适当的标准。
全科医生对医生协助自杀的看法从支持到反对不等，主要取决于他们对患者临终时痛苦的解释。减轻绝症患者痛苦的目标以及对患者受到社会胁迫潜在伤害的担忧，这两个群体都有。尊重自主权和自决权与保护弱势群体免受潜在的社会胁迫伤害的需要是主要主题。
