International Consultant in Psychosocial Palliative Care supervisor,therapist and lecturer. supporter of Grief Encounter Love opera and choral music.

St Albans. UK
Joined September 2013
Pam Hester Firth retweeted
This is FALSE. People with mental disorders are not excluded- just can't be their main reason. KL conflates mental disorder with mental capacity. Obviously she has no idea about care for suicidal people & no interest in proper safeguards for the vulnerable theguardian.com/society/2025…
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Naz Shah MP (@NazShahBfd): If the safeguards fail even once, no one in this house would be able to say we did not see this coming. “That is not compassion, that is abandonment”.
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Dr Neil Hudson MP (@DrNeilHudson): About 70% of end-of-life care is delivered outside the NHS, largely by charities. There is something deeply wrong about this. Shouldn't we address palliative and hospice care before we go anywhere near this assisted suicide Bill?
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Pam Hester Firth retweeted
A tour de force of a speech from @danfrancis02. He rages at the absurd idea that the Mental Capacity Act is a sufficient safeguard for the learning disabled. He quotes @doctor_oxford @JamillaHussain1 @mencap_charity @EHRCChair @rcpsych and @TheLawSociety True Labour values ❤️
Replying to @nmdacosta
Daniel Francis, Committee member: father of a child with learning disabilities, very concerned about the capacity test would see someone supported to an assisted death, and first a parent would find out is after a doctor has helped end their life.
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Pam Hester Firth retweeted
Tom Fletcher's speech last night to the UN Security Council will go down as one of the great historic speeches of our times. Top marks to the BBC and the editor of R4 PM for having the initiative & courage to run all 12 minutes at the top of the PM programme this evening.
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Danny Kruger is correct. I’m not opposed to assisted dying, in principle. But I am opposed to half-truths, hyperbole, spin and celebrity endorsement being used to drive law change. Especially when that law change puts the most vulnerable in our society at risk of wrongful death.
Total dismantling of the case for the Assisted Suicide Bill being debated today, by leading palliative care doc (who isn't actually opposed to Assisted Suicide)
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Strong statement from ⁦@rcpsych⁩ “We cannot support the Terminally Ill Adults Bill” rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-s…
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I was one of many who recommended in written evidence that everyone requesting assisted dying should have - at minimum - a palliative care assessment. Lack of capacity is not a reassuring reason to reject this amendment. Palliative care can alleviate a wish for hastened death.
Should each assisted suicide applicant get a meeting with a palliative care specialist? When MPs proposed this, care minister Stephen Kinnock raised a “concern” that it “would increase demand for palliative care specialists”. He joined Kim Leadbeater in voting down the proposal.
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Thanks for this post. Palliative Care Social Workers are skilled professionals in working with all ages @APCSW1
The importance of social work and palliative care in aged care cannot be overlooked. Thanks Palliative Care Australia and @jowoodSW for these insights and advocacy. youtu.be/ZmAUJNGhqOw?feature…
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Was a great conference and a great pleasure to meet colleagues
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Pam Hester Firth retweeted
Our friends @StAchoralsoc are giving a fabulous concert at 7.30pm on Saturday 16 November @StAlbansCath – such a brilliantly wide-ranging programme from Bach via Poulenc to Duruflé and with some world class soloists. Go if you can ...
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On my way to Dublin for the European Conference on Grief with colleagues from Grief Encounter @SusanCadell @reenamurphy58
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Pam Hester Firth retweeted
The start of @BusheySO's 50th Anniversary season is at 3pm tomorrow, 10 November, at the Clarendon Muse, Watford WD18 7JA Fabmusic by Saint-Saens, Tchaikovsky, Elgar and Mozart with @arianakashefi cello and conductor @GeorgeVass19. Details & tickets here: busheysymphony.org.uk
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Pam Hester Firth retweeted
Fascinating reporting from ⁦@jessicaelgot⁩ digging into breadth of Commons sentiment not just on assisted dying but flaws in the process. MPs’ opposition to assisted dying bill grows amid criticism of lack of debate | Assisted dying | The Guardian theguardian.com/society/2024…
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Pam Hester Firth retweeted
Whether or not laws on assisted dying are introduced, the government funding model for our struggling hospice and end of life care system must be urgently reviewed 👇 theguardian.com/society/2024…
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Pam Hester Firth retweeted
But what if the suffering that drives some people into finding life unbearable is avoidable, unnecessary suffering? Suffering that could & would be alleviated - if only UK palliative care services weren’t a threadbare patchwork of appallingly underfunded inadequacy? 1/3
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Six month prognosis criterion is hugely risky and a palatable entry point into making #AssistedDying legal, so that it is more acceptable in the public eye. Interview for @guardian
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Congratulations George. Looking forward to singing in our next concert
Congratulations @GeorgeVass19 on your 30th anniversary @StAchoralsoc – quite a milestone 🍾
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Pam Hester Firth retweeted
Assisted dying is in the spotlight as MPs consider a bill this month. Hospice UK is neutral on a change in the law. Regardless of the outcome, we believe it's crucial to ensure everyone has access to quality end-of-life care and to consider all details in this complex debate.
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A great appointment. Congratulations to Tim
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