The ODOC Podcast

GMC consultation

The GMC is consulting on new draft guidance about personal beliefs and medicine. This includes changes to their guidance on conscientious objection. How could these changes impact medical professionals who would not wish to participate in assisted suicide should this ever be legalised in the UK? Dr Mary Neal, Reader in Law at Strathclyde University joined Dr Gillian Wright and other healthcare professionals to discuss the implications of proposed changes to GMC guidance on personal beliefs and conscientious objection in a webinar in April 2026. VIDEO – GMC Consultation on Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice – Our Duty of Care [https://ourdutyofcare.org.uk/video/video-gmc-consultation-on-personal-beliefs/]       The post GMC consultation [https://ourdutyofcare.org.uk/podcast-episode/gmc-consultation/] appeared first on Our Duty of Care [https://ourdutyofcare.org.uk].

David Albert Jones – part 2

In part 2 Professor David Albert Jones discusses conscience clauses and no detriment provisions with senior doctors from the devolved nations.  Why these have been lost from the Scottish Bill, and what are the implications for doctors and health care organisations? Complex conundrums in Scotland arise when legislation regards assisted suicide as medical treatment or allows doctors to mention the option of assisted suicide to patients. Drawing on the experience of other countries Professor Jones explains why requiring a doctor to be present while a person takes the lethal substance, or not requiring them to be present, are ‘bad in different ways’. Recorded as part of an online Webinar in January 2026. The post David Albert Jones – part 2 [https://ourdutyofcare.org.uk/podcast-episode/david-albert-jones-part-2/] appeared first on Our Duty of Care [https://ourdutyofcare.org.uk].

David Albert Jones – part 1

David Albert Jones, Professor in Bioethics at St Mary’s University in London describes the experience of assisted suicide in other jurisdictions. In Australia a time limit of expectation of death within  6 months (or 12 months for neurodegenerative disease) in Victoria in 2017 was expanded in Queensland in 2021 to 12 months for all patients and further expanded in the Australian Capital Territory in 2024 to abandon any time limit. This rapid expansion should be a warning for MSPs. Even if a 6 month limit is included in the Bill, as belatedly seems to have been conceded, there is no guarantee that this limit will be maintained once the Bill passes. The evidence from Australia suggests the opposite. MSPs should not look only at what is on the face of the Bill but should also look at the experience of other countries and what is likely to happen in practice if the Bill is passed. Recorded in January 2026 prior to Liam McArthur announcing intention to add a 6-month prognosis to the Scottish Bill. The post David Albert Jones – part 1 [https://ourdutyofcare.org.uk/podcast-episode/david-albert-jones-part-1/] appeared first on Our Duty of Care [https://ourdutyofcare.org.uk].

Mary Neal

Dr Mary Neal, Reader in Law at the University of Strathclyde, explains why Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying Bill (Scotland) will be stripped of conscientious objection provisions before MSPs vote on the final version of the bill. Westminster will require clauses relating to conscience to be removed from the bill before the Stage 3 vote. Holyrood lacks the parliamentary competence to legislate for registered health professionals. This podcast was recorded in January 2026 and describes a complex and evolving political situation. For more information contact info@ourdutyofcare.org.uk. The post Mary Neal [https://ourdutyofcare.org.uk/podcast-episode/mary-neal/] appeared first on Our Duty of Care [https://ourdutyofcare.org.uk].

Anni Donaldson

Dr Anni Donaldson is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Strathclyde and an expert in domestic abuse and gender-based violence. She explains the dangerous intersection between assisted suicide and domestic abuse in Scotland where one in three adult women experience domestic abuse. She warns that assisted suicide risks putting an additional tool, a new ‘lethal weapon’, in the toolbox of abusive men. Anni is also an independent freelance historian, researcher, online course author and developer, journalist and critic. This podcast was recorded with an online audience of UK healthcare professionals concerned to protect patients from the risks of assisted suicide.   The post Anni Donaldson [https://ourdutyofcare.org.uk/podcast-episode/anni-donaldson/] appeared first on Our Duty of Care [https://ourdutyofcare.org.uk].